Closer To The Edge
by gioia99
Summary: The Ark's most dangerous prisoner ever is being sent to the ground with 100 other juvenile delinquents. in the lawless new world of earth, relationships are formed and secrets are revealed as he tries to make a living out of his new world. will the others survive him? and will he survive the others? please review and let me know what you think. Your feedback is much appreciated
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first attempt at this. I wrote this story because none of the main 100 characters are as badass as they should be in my opinion. My two favourite TV shows are 'Arrow' and 'The 100' so I created a character with similar, but darker qualities to Oliver Queen, and then put him in the '100' universe. I've tried to stick as close to the actual storyline as possible but I have modified various scenes and relationships for the benefit of this story. Enjoy **

The sound of the door opening drew him from his sleep, the familiar hydraulic sound of metal sliding over metal that he had become so accustomed to over the past 2 years. It was all he could do to pass the time really: listen, and watch. Solitary confinement was a lonely place.

'but not today' he thought as a group of 4 guards entered his cell, including, he noted with hidden anger, Dylan Joyce, the person who had put him here in the first place. He eyed Dylan fiercely. He had not forgotten what Dylan had done to him. Dylan was a friend in the past, but not anymore.

'Your time has come' the lead guard said. He knew exactly what that meant. Today was the day. The day he would meet his fate, the same fate that had befallen so many people over the years. He had been put in solitary because law on the Ark demanded he be kept alive. But not anymore, for today was his 18th birthday. Today, he was going to be floated.

Slowly, he rose up and out of his bed, put his creased and heavily worn brown leather jacket on over his loose fitting streaked grey t-shirt and lightweight black cargo pants and calmly exited the room. He strode up to the smirking figure of Dylan Joyce and said quietly, but evenly "this should be you". Dylan said nothing.

"Move, Eroxin", the lead guard said, jabbing the teenager with his baton. Quickly and silently, unnoticed by any of the guards, he reached back and grabbed a few small items from under the pillow on his bed. He thought they might come in handy at some point.

His name was Aerrow, Aerrow Eroxin. On the face of it, he was an average guy. Average height, with average looks and an average build. On the face of it only, for he always kept his true looks and figure hidden under his jacket. He wasn't overly tall, about 180 centimetres. He had near shoulder length, slightly wavy brown hair, with small streaks of blonde in it, which he wore in a casual manner. He never really bothered about his appearance though, not anymore. He had a handsome face, if rather rugged looking, and his whole appearance was accentuated by his eyes. They were a dazzling shade of something between blue and purple, and they had the ability to capture the attention of anyone he looked at.

Right now though, those eyes were set forwards, in a steely gaze. He was thinking about everything that had happened in his life that brought him to be in this position, and the things yet to come. He wasn't scared. Far from it. He had long ago accepted his fate and stopped caring. He no longer felt many emotions at all. He was never sad, he was never happy. He was just focussed. Extremely focussed.

Which is why he noted immediately not only the numbers of other juvenile prisoners being rounded up in the skybox (the name given to the facility where the juvenile prisoners were kept), but also the fact that they all seemed to be headed in the same direction, which was not towards that horrible grey steel room where every prisoner eventually met their fate.

Instead, they were all headed towards a large pod of some sort. It looked familiar to Aerrow, but he couldn't remember quite what it was.

He turned to the guard accompanying him and asked what was going on

"it's your lucky day, kid. You're not being floated after all"

"why not?"

"because there is something more important that you and the other 100 juvenile prisoners can do for the Ark"

"whats that?"

"You are being sent to the ground, to the earth"

Now he recognised the pod. It was a drop ship.

The guard snapped a chunky but lightweight metal bracelet around Aerrow's wrist. He felt it clasp around him, and several sharp needles punctured his skin as it locked onto him. He didn't jolt with pain unlike every other kid being sent to the ground. A while ago he had taught himself how to stop being influenced by pain. He had experienced so much of it that it no longer registered in his brain.

Before he knew it, he was strapped into his seat and the drop ship was released from the Ark, on its way to the ground. He watched the Ark slowly get smaller and smaller through a porthole. As he watched it, he looked back to all his memories from that place, and cast them away, leaving them behind on the Ark. Then he shifted his gaze to where he was headed: Earth, his eyes shining with determination and hope, ready to start a new life.

For the first time, he looked around at the other juvenile delinquents. Most of them he didn't recognise, but some he found familiar. First was Wells, the Chancellor's son. Aerrow was slightly bemused as to how he had ended up on the drop ship in the first place, but his questions were answered when he heard Wells tell the blonde girl next to him that he got himself arrested. That girl was familiar as well. She had been the only other person locked up in solitary. He didn't know her name, he'd never really cared enough to find out. All he knew was that she had been imprisoned for a year for treason.

His gaze lingered on her for longer than he would have liked to admit. There was something captivating about her. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the harness next to him being un-clasped. He turned and saw another boy get out of his seat and start floating casually around the cabin. He knew who this person was too, everyone did. He was Finn, the person arrested for possibly the most ludicrous crime ever committed on the Ark. He had got bored one day and decided to take a months worth of oxygen and go spacewalking.

Aerrow smiled inwardly. Finn was a lot like him, adventurous and daring. Aerrow was much more serious and focussed however, and Finn was more of a joker. He was also un-scarred, his face much younger in looks, one that had never seen or experienced the things Aerrow had.

Aerrow's musings came to an end as the drop ship jolted violently, throwing everyone into a panic. Aerrow regained his composure straight away and realised that the retro rockets on the drop ship had fired, sending Finn and 2 other boys who had decided to follow him crashing into the side of the cabin.

Panic set in amongst some of the other prisoners. Wells and the blonde girl seemed to be having a very heated discussion. Others just screamed. Aerrow just sat calmly in his seat, knowing deep down that everything would be all-right, but he was ready to accept his death if it came.

The following minutes felt like hours, with no-on really knowing what the outcome of the descent would be. When the ship finally landed with a heavy thud, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

The 100 got out of their seats quickly, and rushed to the exit door, eager to be the first humans in 97 years to set foot on the ground. They were stopped however, by a man who looked by all appearances to be a guard.

Aerrow eyed him cautiously, he knew from the moment he saw the man that whoever he was, he was not a member of the 100, for he had no wrist band, and he was definitely not a guard. No guard would have been asked or have been allowed to volunteer to come onboard. He certainly had the demeanour of a guard: Tough, brash and strong with the presence of a leader. But Aerrow knew about the wing of the Guards, he had once been fast-tracked to be one of them. He knew their member's, and their stance. This man was not one of them.

He made to open the door, when the blonde girl shouted something about the air being toxic. The man standing at the front of the crowd quickly replied that they'd all be dead anyway. Aerrow had to agree with him. Whoever she was, he noted, this girl was intelligent, but tended to jump to conclusions, didn't think things through. Aerrow also observed that the man did not like the idea of someone else standing up to him, and did everything to shut them down and re-instate his authority. He made a mental note to keep a close eye on both of them, but for different reasons.

Suddenly, a small voice at the back of the crowd spoke up. "Bellamy?" she asked, her voice not much louder than a whisper. "Octavia?" he said, astonished, "look how big you are".

The picture now became clear. These were the Blake siblings. Having a second child was against the law, so their parents had hidden Octavia in the floor of their room for many years, until she was a teenager. When she was discovered however, her parents were floated and she was sent to the skybox. Bellamy was forced to quit guard school and instead got himself some low level job maintaining the ark. Quite how he had ended up in the drop ship was still unclear.

After their re-union and another argument with the blonde girl, Bellamy pushed the button to open the door. Light flooded the cabin and, not for the first time that day, Aerrow had no idea what to expect.

Octavia was the first on the ground. After she declared it was safe by screaming "we're back bitches!", everyone pushed and shoved in a mad rush to get out and onto the ground.

Aerrow hung back. He went over to check on Finn and the other two boys who got slammed against the wall during the landing. Miraculously, Finn had survived relatively unscathed. The same could not be said for the other two. Aerrow could tell from the lumps in their torso's and the blood coming from their mouths that they had suffered massive internal injuries and were long gone. Aerrow crouched down beside Finn, who was on the brink of crying having seen what he had caused, put his hand on his shoulder and said "it's not your fault. It was their choice". He then stood up and left the drop ship, ready to set foot on Earth.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is part 2! I have the sroty for the first 7 episodes drafted up so I should be able to upload every 2 days or so. In this chapter we learn a bit more about Aerrow's emotions, his past and his abilities. Unfortunately theres not too much action yet as I'm still setting the scene, but don't worry, there will be much more in the chapters after this one**

Stepping on to the ground was like nothing Aerrow had ever experienced. Having lived his whole life on the Ark, standing on metal floors, the feel of dirt and grass beneath his feet was completely un-familiar. Aerrow was not one to ponder however. He looked up and around at the surrounding area, surveying it for possible threats. He saw the blonde girl head off on her own, away from the rest of the group. He didn't know why, but he decided he wanted to get to know her better, so he took a deep breath and set off after her.

He was about to catch up when she tripped on a tree root and started falling down the slope. With the near zero point reflexes that he had spent most of his life honing, Aerrow swung himself around the trunk of a tree and caught her before she could hit the ground. He pulled her back to her feet easily. She looked up, and was caught a second time. This time by his eyes.

"Careful" he said casually "you just got on the ground, don't want to injure yourself".

"Yeah, uh, thanks" she replied, still a little shaken by her near fall. "I'm Clarke". So that was her name.

"Aerrow" he said, shaking her hand.

That stirred something in her. She heard his name, looked at his face again, at his eyes, and it all clicked. She stood straight instantly, her eyes wide with fear. "you, you're th-the, you're the guy they call 'Switchblade'. You're the guy who kidnapped, tortured and murdered your parents, your girlfriend and 3 guards!" she stammered turning away.

He moved quickly, grabbing her hand "no, that's not who I am"

She pulled away, and yelled "get away from me you freak! They should have floated you straight away. It's more than you deserve".

She went to pull her hand out of his grip, but he held tight, making her face him again.

"that's not who I am. That's just who you've been lead to believe I am".

He paused, and took a deep breath "I wasn't the person who tortured them. I was one of the ones being tortured" he sighed, his voice cracking at the painful memory.

Clarke stared at him. She was angry, and afraid. But as she looked at his face, and his eyes, and she saw something. Aerrow knew what it was instantly. She had been looking for a lie but she hadn't found one. She stared into his eyes, into his soul. And found someone who was telling the truth.

But Clarke had to be sure. "why should I believe you?" she demanded.

He sighed. He didn't want to have to prove to her that he wasn't a murderer, but he also knew that if he didn't, she would exile him. Not just from her but perhaps from the entire group. Not that he wouldn't be able to survive, he knew he had the skills to do that, but because he had spent so long locked up in solitary, alone, and he didn't want to be that person anymore.

Slowly, he took his jacket off and put it on the ground, then he pulled his grey shirt over his head, revealing his body to her.

Clarke gasped at what she saw, and clamped her hand over her mouth.

His whole body, his abdomen, his chest, his back, his shoulders, was covered in semi healed scar tissue. What must have once been ragged cuts inflicted by something like a razor blade or worse now adorned his body, a permanent engraving of the experiences he had been forced to endure. Most were small to medium sized, ranging from about 5 to 20 centimetres in length, and about 2 centimetres wide. The biggest one though stretched all the way from his right hip and curved up past the centre of his chest and continued to his left shoulder.

Clarke didn't say anything, she couldn't. What could she say about such extensive damage that this person had somehow survived?

Gazing over his body a second time, trying to look past the scars, Clarke also noticed that Aerrow Eroxin, murderer or not, was a seriously toned individual. His whole body rippled with perfectly shaped muscles. They were not massive, only as big as he needed them to be, but they each moulded so perfectly around and to the others. There was not an ounce of body fat or loose skin to be found anywhere either, his entire body was pure muscle. And his abs. Clarke had to stop herself from gasping at how pronounced and attractive they were. Whatever it was Aerrow had been doing in his time in solitary, maybe even before then, it had given him the hottest body she had ever laid eyes on.

Aerrow had had enough of her staring at him. He had never wanted anyone to see his scars, even if they might have proved his innocence. To him, they were a burden. A constant reminder of the pain and suffering he had endured. He quickly put his shirt and jacket back on. Clarke was still speechless.

"Happy now?" he asked sarcastically. He wasn't angry, just annoyed. Not at her either, she was just following her instincts in asking him to prove he wasn't who she thought she was. He was annoyed at himself, for getting himself into the position where he had to reveal himself, who he truly was, the person he would rather forget. He didn't even wait for her to answer. He just gave her a sad smile and turned and walked away, off on his own, away from the drop ship, a look of sadness in his eyes.

He paused and looked at the bracelet around his wrist. He had overheard Clarke telling someone that the wristband told the Ark whether or not the ground was survivable. He looked up at the sky, and thought of the Ark. What had once brought him so much happiness now only brought him pain and misery. He shuddered at those memories, and looked back to his wristband, his last connection to the Ark. Without thinking, he found a tree branch and cranked the wristband off, before tossing it to the ground.

Aerrow kept his distance from the rest of the group after his encounter with Clarke, figuring out the hierarchy that was starting to establish itself, as well as spotting potential enemies.

He observed a scuffle involving Wells and another kid (Aerrow found out later that his name was John Murphy). Murphy had a temper, a serious temper, with the desire to beat up anything and anyone that opposed him. Just as the fight was about to escalate and Aerrow was partially considering stepping in, Finn jumped off the top of the drop ship and broke up the fight.

Seeing that he was no longer needed, Aerrow distanced himself again and heard Clarke saying that the group needed to get to Mount Weather. Bellamy argued saying that they could survive on their own. Although he didn't like the guy, Aerrow had to agree. If they were truly going to survive down on the ground, they couldn't go off life support from the things left behind. They needed to learn to survive on their own.

Eventually, Clarke and Bellamy reached the agreement and she, Finn, Octavia and two other boys, an Asian kid and a tall, lanky kid with goggles on his head, headed off to get the supplies.

3 hours ago, Aerrow would have been tempted to go with them. But he still couldn't get over what Clarke might think of him now that she had seen his scars. He realised that he felt this way and immediately got angry with himself. He had spent so long training himself to be immune to these kinds of emotions and yet, here he was, disregarding everything he had taught himself, because of one person. He looked away from the group, and instead surveyed the surrounding forest, noting the many mounds, dips and trees, and a small smile formed on his face. He needed to get the anger out of his system, and he knew just the way.

He walked a good distance away from the group, until he was sure he was out of sight. He looked around, took a deep breath, and then he was off.

Sprinting through the trees at an incredible pace, he ducked, twisted and jumped over any obstacle in his path. Running up and jumping off mounds, leaping over fallen logs and diving through the gaps underneath them.

Eventually, he got tired of running along the ground, so he turned to the tree tops instead. He clambered up a tree as if he was climbing a ladder. Once he reached what he deemed to be an acceptable height, he jumped to the next tree, and the next one, and the one after that. With exceptional balance, he raced along the branches.

See, decide, act, re-act. Those were the words he lived by. As he practiced his parcour skills (which he had read about and taught himself on the Ark), he would observe his surroundings, decide what to do, do it, and then re-act to whatever he was faced with immediately after.

Soon, he came to a waterfall, about 15 metres high. Upping his pace, he just sprinted up to the edge and dived over, down into the water below. He hit the water hard, but he knew the correct entry technique. They might not have taught him these skills on the Ark, but there were books and videos that he could learn them from, and any skill the saw that he thought he would need, he learnt and practised.

Re-tracing his steps, he arrived back near the camp, but he wasn't finished yet. He reached behind him and grabbed something off of his belt, one of the 2 things he had snuck out of his cell when he left the Ark. He held the long and thin, cylindrical piece of alloy metal in his hand. The weighting felt so familiar in his grip. He found the only button on its surface and pressed it.

A faint electrical hum could be heard a split second before the ends of the object sprang out to form an extremely cool looking, and just as deadly bo-staff. It was Aerrow's pride and joy.

_He had made it himself in a happier time, when he was training to become a guard. He wasn't happy with the weapons they gave him, so he went to a friend in the tech station who owed him a favour. They gave him a piece of what they called coandite, a super light, but super strong alloy formed by exposing carbon fibre to high intensity radiation. He machined it into the shape that he wanted, then made it extendable via an internal electrical current, so that it could go from being 30 centimetres long to 170 at the touch of a button._

Holding the staff in his hand, Aerrow re-lived all those memories. It brought back the anger, so he took the staff in both hands and started hitting the nearest tree with it.

Not that it was random hitting. It was precise and focussed, just like his mind. And deadly. Aerrow wielded the staff like it was an extension of his arm. It was just a blur as bark and chips of wood flew off the trunk of the tree under Aerrow's ruthless attack.

2 hours later, as night started to fall, Aerrow was still going at it, tiring slightly, but nowhere near as much as another person would have been. He noticed the tree starting to creak and develop some serious cracks at the base of the trunk. Putting the staff down, he took a running jump and kicked the tree with both legs as hard as he could, backflipping off it and landing on his feet at the same time the tree toppled to the ground. Aerrow smiled. At least now the group would be covered for firewood.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, Aerrow was dragging another fallen tree back to the main camp when he heard a commotion going on near the fire. He dropped the log and ran up the hill to see what the fuss was about. When he got there he saw two boys locked in combat: Wells and Murphy. Again.

Aerrow looked on with distain. He couldn't believe it. Wells could get annoying with his trying to act like his father, but he had done nothing to cause this much of a stir. It was Murphy. The guy didn't seem to know anything other than violence. Aerrow was considering giving him a personal, and painful lesson when he realised that, actually, Wells was winning the fight.

Wells got Murphy in a headlock, before turning to Bellamy, who was just standing there watching the entire spectacle with an amused look on his face, and pleaded for him to end the madness, before letting Murphy go and throwing him to the ground behind him.

Aerrow admired Wells for this. Wells could have held on to Murphy, choking him or even snapping his neck, but he chose not to. It showed he had a sense of honour, a sense of what's right and wrong.

Murphy however had no such honour. Silently, he got to his feet, muttering "you're dead", before pulling a knife out of his jacket and advancing to Wells, who still has his back turned to Murphy. Aerrow saw what was going to happen, and acted quickly.

He drew the other item that he had taken from the Ark, an exquisitely shaped, perfectly weighted and wickedly sharp knife, about 20 centimetres long, also self-made from the left over coandite that Aerrow had used to make his staff.

Taking a split second to aim, Aerrow threw the knife with a sideways flick of his elbow and wrist, just as he had practised throwing it at the wall in his cell countless times on the Ark. With pin point accuracy, Aerrow's knife collided with Murphy's knife just as he was about to stab it into Wells' back, knocking it from the man's hand.

Murphy looked up in shock at the direction the knife had come from. He saw Aerrow standing there casually, staring fiercely into Murphy's eyes.

Rage flowed through Murphy's veins. "what's your problem Violet Eyes?" he taunted "you think this son of a bitch deserves to live, after what his father did to us?".

Aerrow kept his cool, not letting Murphy's taunts affect him. "that's exactly what I think" he replied, pausing before adding his final comment "asshole".

That was the nail in the coffin for Murphy, who was now positively shaking with rage. "fine then" he sneered "you can take his place". Murphy bent down and picked his knife up, before hurling it at Aerrow.

The knife missed completely. Aerrow didn't even flinch. Murphy had no ability to throw a knife with accuracy, especially one with such bad weighting as that one. Even though it was probably not a good idea, he decided to keep taunting Murphy. After all, what was the point of being free without having a little fun? "That all you've got?" he said, smirking.

Murphy then picked up Aerrow's knife, and threw that too. This time the throw was much more accurate, only because of the supreme craftsmanship of Aerrow's knife. Murphy smiled with delight when he saw the knife headed straight for Aerrow's face, with no time for him to get out of the way.

Murphy's smile vanished however when Aerrow moved his hand up in the blink of an eye and caught the knife in mid-flight, centimetres from his face. Gasps of astonishment went up among the now sizeable crowd that had gathered. Even Bellamy was impressed, although he did his best to hide it. What Aerrow just did shouldn't have been possible, and yet he made it look easy.

The wonders of a lifetime training to be a guard, and then two years in solitary with nothing to do but learn such skills and practise them until perfection.

All eyes were on Aerrow now, waiting to see what his next move would be. "thanks. Is this over now?" Aerrow demanded, eyes blazing. Murphy gulped. This was the last thing he had expected to happen. Two minutes ago his dream of killing the chancellor's son was about to come true, but now he was staring into the face of a very unceremonious ass-kicking at the hands of the purple eyed kid standing in front of him. He finally saw sense and very wisely backed down.

The crowd started to disperse, and Murphy sulked back to his tent. Bellamy stared at Aerrow, planning what to do about him. He was a threat to Bellamy's leadership, but Bellamy needed to make sure whose side he was on. His questions were answered when he saw that Aerrow's wrist band was gone. Bellamy smiled. So he wasn't the only one who didn't want the Ark to know the ground was safe. He started formulating a plan in his head to gain Aerrow's allegiance.

Wells walked up to Aerrow. "you saved my life" he said "thanks".

Aerrow smiled slightly. "you didn't deserve to die" he said casually.

"where did you learn to do that stuff? That was incredible!"

Aerrow's face changed, a look of sadness washing over it. "you don't want to know, and I don't want to talk about it"

"yes I do" Wells urged "come on, you can trust me".

"I do trust you, Wells"

"then tell me"

Aerrow wasn't going to answer. Even if he was, he didn't get the chance to, because it was at that moment that the expedition to Mount Weather came running back to the camp, minus the kid with the goggles. Aerrow could tell from the faces of the returning people that something very, very bad had happened

Clarke and Finn were the first ones back, followed by the Asian kid supporting a limping Octavia. Seeing his sister, Bellamy immediately rushed over to her, asking if she was okay. Octavia said she was fine. Bellamy then turned to the other 3 and asked where the food was.

"we didn't make it to Mount Weather" Finn said

"then what the hell happened out there?"

"we were attacked" Clarke interjected.

Aerrow's head snapped up. Suddenly he found himself paying much more attention to the conversation.

Finn then explained that the 100 were not the only humans on the ground. There were survivors too, grounders, as they were known on the Ark.

"where's the kid with the goggles?" Wells asked

"Jasper was hit" Clarke replied, fear in her eyes as she remembered. "they took him"

Clarke then noticed that Wells' wristband was missing. What followed was another argument about whether or not it was a good idea to let the Ark think they were dying. Clarke thought they needed to leave them on, while Bellamy, who was much more persuasive, said they were truly free if they removed the wrist bands.

Clarke was desperate. She looked around the crowd to try and find someone strong enough to support her. Her first thought was Wells, but he was not very popular with the group, or with her for that matter. Her eyes settled on the one other person strong enough in her mind to stand up to Bellamy: Aerrow.

"say something, please!" she begged him

Bellamy noticed, and silenced the crowd.

"Yeah, Violet eyes" he said smugly, using Murphy's original insult. "what do you think? You obviously agree with me" he then nodded at Aerrow's naked wrist

Clarke glared at Aerrow, not wanting to believe he had sided with Bellamy. He shook his head conspicuously at her, implying that he did not agree.

He was silent for a moment, contemplating what to say.

"I think that regardless of what you do, you are free" he said finally, looking up at the crowd "if you want to take your wristband off that's fine, but if you want to leave it on you should not be forced to remove it"

"you can make up your own minds" he continued, if a bit quieter, turning to look at Clarke. "Right now though our priority is rescuing Jasper"

Aerrow's words may have put doubt in the minds of the crowd, but it was clear that most of them sided with Bellamy.

Clarke just stormed off, grabbing the Asian kid and walking up to Aerrow.

"what do we do now" the kid asked nervously.

Clarke nodded at Aerrow.

"now we go after Jasper"


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, so this chapter is where Aerrow's character and his emotions towards various members of the group really start to get developed. Action starts to pick up after this as well.**

Aerrow put his items back onto his belt and went into the drop ship, where Clarke was again arguing, this time with Wells, the Asian kid (Clarke called him Monty) and Finn.

Aerrow walked up just as Finn said he wasn't going, to which Clarke replied that he was no adventurer, just a coward. He retorted by saying it wasn't an adventure, it was a suicide mission.

Aerrow was determined not to allow that to happen. He was confident in his skills and ability to protect them. Confident enough at least.

Clarke stormed out of the drop ship. Aerrow noticed the hurt look on Finn's face.

"you have feelings for her, don't you?" he asked the spacewalker.

Finn looked up sharply "who are you to ask?"

Aerrow just nodded slowly, then turned to Wells and motioned him to follow him out of the drop ship.

Turning to Finn one last time, Aerrow said simply "you can build up these walls around you. I know, because I have, and I'm not going to stop you from doing that. But remember, you can just as easily tear them down and free yourself, before it's too late"

He re-joined the rescue party as they were leaving the camp, a little shocked and confused to find that Bellamy and Murphy were coming along as well. They were talking amongst themselves. Aerrow followed silently, eavesdropping on their conversation, and heard Bellamy say he was going to take Clarke's wristband off one way or another.

Aerrow's eyes narrowed. He convinced himself that he didn't feel anything for Clarke. She was after all, a bit selfish and annoying, and she had made him re-live things he had never wanted too. He also knew from past experiences that caring about people only got him and them hurt. Bellamy and Murphy however, they were dangerous, and he was going to keep a close eye on them.

They moved through the forest quickly. Or rather, Clarke did. The others were just keeping up. Aerrow could tell from her body language that she was trying to block something out. He wanted to ask her what it was, but decided now was not the time or place.

Bellamy and Murphy on the other hand decided that now was the time to try and remove her wristband. They stopped her and said they would only continue if she took it off. Defiantly, and with more courage than Aerrow had originally given her credit for, she replied that the only way the Ark was going to think she was dead, was if she was dead.

Bellamy stood there smirking. He glanced at Murphy, planning what to do next. Aerrow could feel himself partially draw his knife from his holster.

Bellamy advanced slightly towards Clarke.

"Brave little Princess" he muttered.

Aerrow was about to deck him when some shouted from behind "hey, why don't you find your own nickname?'

They all spun around to find Finn walking towards them. He gave Aerrow a small nod as he caught up. "call this a rescue party? We should split up, cover more ground. Clarke, come with me" he said, grabbing Clarkes hand and leading her away from the group.

Aerrow smirked to himself. Looks like he had gotten through to Finn. It did however leave him with Wells, Bellamy and Murphy. He agreed with Finn in splitting up, but he didn't want to leave Wells with those two. He knew that Wells could handle himself against Murphy, but Bellamy was an unknown. After seeing what he was prepared to do to Clarke, he decided to stop him from causing harm to anyone else.

Aerrow grabbed Bellamy and pulled him roughly away from the other two. Bellamy quickly yanked himself away.

"What the hell do you think you're doing asshole?" Bellamy snapped

"I could ask you the same thing, what was that?"

"that was called doing whatever the hell I want"

"Well I'm tempted to do the same, and you've seen what I can do"

Bellamy refused to back down "and you've seen that I have a gun", he said coldly, unholstering it and pointing it at Aerrow.

Aerrow kept his eyes level with Bellamy's. He grabbed his contracted staff and swiped it against the pistol, causing the clip to drop out and fall to the ground.

Bellamy couldn't mask the look of shock that came over his face. He looked down at the clip, just as Aerrow grabbed his collar and yanked him to within inches of his face.

"Listen, Bellamy" Aerrow hissed "this group needs you, someone to lead them. But to do that effectively, you can't continue being this person. If Clarke wants to keep her wristband on, let her. It's her life, it's her choice.

The harshness left his voice "you came down here for a reason, to protect your sister. That shows you have a sense of honour. But if she could see the way you act when she isn't around, what would she think of you?"

Aerrow let him go "Think about that, and don't do anything both of us will regret"

With that, Aerrow walked off on his own, leaving a shocked Bellamy behind with Murphy and Wells.

Aerrow crept through the trees. Slowly, carefully, looking for any sign that would lead them to Jasper. He wasn't happy with what he had done, but it was something he needed to do to force Bellamy to get his act together.

As he walked, he thought about what made him do that.

He had been thinking of a way to get through to Bellamy for some time, since the guy had first assumed the role of leadership pretty much, but it was what eventually made him act that stuck in his mind

It was Clarke. Bellamy had threatened Clarke, and Aerrow had acted to prevent it from happening ever again. It was what he had trained himself to do.

He thought long and hard about what it was about Clarke that had made him do that. He had stopped trying to convince himself that he didn't have feelings for her, because he now admitted that he did. He just didn't know what those feelings were. It wasn't love. He had experienced that emotion in the past and was sure he was incapable of ever feeling it again. What then?

Suddenly, he heard splashes ahead of him. All thoughts of feelings left his mind and were replaced by that razor sharp focus he always had. He crept through the forest, not making a sound until he came to a ledge

He looked over, and saw Finn and Clarke swimming in a pool of water about 30 metres below him. A pang of sadness hit him, watching them, the way they interacted, it was obvious that they were attracted to each other.

Suddenly, Aerrow realised what he was feeling. It was the same thing that compelled him to follow Clarke and get to know her when they'd first landed. It was loneliness.

_He had once been in love, back on the Ark. Back when he was happy, before he was tortured. He had a girlfriend. Her name was Arianna, and he loved her. He loved her more deeply than anyone he had ever met. His life was perfect. And then he got promoted to be a guard instead of Dylan Joyce, and his life was never the same after that._

He stared down at Clarke, and realised that he had spent so long on his own, alone and in pain, and although he didn't want to be in a relationship with Clarke, he wanted to be around her, so he didn't feel those things anymore.

He continued to observe the two from his ledge on top of the waterfall. He noticed that they had stopped swimming, and were getting out of the water to look at something on the other bank. He looked closer, and realised that it was blood.

Clarke reached down, and picked something up. They were Jasper's goggles. Despite the grim sight of the blood stained rocks, Aerrow smiled. They had found the trail

Straight away, Aerrow leapt off the ledge and started plummeting down to the pool below. He knew the water was too shallow to land in, so he grabbed an overhanging vine and used it to slow his descent. Once he was travelling at a safer speed, he let go of the vine, back flipping through the air, before landing just behind Clarke and Finn and rolling forwards using the parcour technique he had learnt off an old video on the Ark.

Finn and Clarke heard something land behind them. They spun around, fearing another attack from the grounders, only to see Aerrow casually stand up, dusting his hands off on his cargo pants.

"Aerrow" Clarke exclaimed "where the hell did you come from?"

"up there" he replied with a grin on his face, pointing to the ledge

Clarke supressed a gasp. "but how? that ledge is like, 30 metres off the ground!"

Aerrow shrugged "that's the good thing about being in solitary for 2 years. You have time to learn things. Looks like you guys found the trail"

He bent down to see how fresh it was

"blood's still wet, its recent. We should get the others and find it"

Clarke was momentarily distracted from finding Jasper by the person kneeling down in front of her. He was completely intriguing to her. His mysterious past, his scarred body, his physique, and now his skills. Clarke couldn't help but feel a little bit more attracted to him.

Soon. Bellamy, Murphy and Wells caught up and the 6 of them set off in the direction of the streaks of blood, hoping it wasn't too late to save Jasper.

They kept following the trail, Finn and Aerrow out in front, since they had proven themselves to be the best trackers, until they heard a pained scream somewhere up ahead of them. Clarke told Bellamy to have his gun ready. Aerrow's eyes narrowed. They were getting close.


	5. Chapter 5

**Update: so, unfortunately the file I had all my work saved to corrupted, so I lost 3 episodes and about 14k words of work. I still have the story up to the end of episode 4, and I will try to recover the lost work. If not, I will just re-write it. In the meantime I will still try to update daily as I have been doing. Back to the story line: in this chapter we finally see Aerrow show the others what he can do, and starts drawing attention to himself from Clarke in particular. Nothing happens between them just yet but it will eventually. **

They found Jasper in a clearing, hanging from a tree. His breath was coming in ragged gasps and blood streaked across his body. He was barely alive

Clarke rushed forwards. Aerrow shouted at her to stop but she didn't listen. She only wanted to get Jasper down to flat ground and back to the camp before it was too late. She advanced towards the tree, only to trigger a trap.

Without warning, the ground beneath her caved in and she started to fall in. Bellamy was the closest to her, and he acted on instinct, Aerrow suspected. He reached down and grabbed her hand before she could fall to the bottom of the pit, which was full of sharpened sticks.

Wells and Finn immediately told Bellamy to pull her up, but Bellamy paused.

Aerrow knew that he was thinking of dropping her. He only had to do one thing, he only spoke one word

"Bellamy"

Bellamy looked up, and saw Aerrow looking at him with the fiercest glare he had ever seen. Those purple eyes seemed to burn right through him. He held his knife in his hand, poised and ready to throw it into Bellamy's chest if he made the wrong decision. He remembered their conversation earlier. At first, he thought Aerrow had been bluffing, but now he saw the evil glare in Aerrow's eyes and realised that Aerrow would not hesitate to kill him if given a reason to.

He pulled Clarke out of the pit.

Once she had recovered, she declared that they needed to get Jasper down. Finn said he and Aerrow would climb up and cut the vines.

The two set to work. As much as Finn didn't like to admit it, Aerrow was much better at scaling the tree. Something stirred in him. He was the one that was meant to be the best at this sort of stuff, but he could never have even dreamed of being able to leap off the top of that waterfall and survive. Even if it was only for an instant, Finn felt a small amount of jealousy for the person who had become his friend in the two short days they had been on the ground.

The two were making good progress when a low growl came echoing through the grass. Everyone turned towards the direction the noise had come from, and saw an enormous black cat stalking them.

Suddenly, it charged at Clarke, for she was the closest target. She screamed for Bellamy to use his gun. He brought it up, took aim and fired.

No bullet came out. He cursed himself. He had forgotten to pick up the clip of ammunition Aerrow had knocked out of the chamber earlier that day. All he could do was look at Clarke, a look of sorrow coming over his face as he realised that this time, there was nothing he could do.

Clarke saw that the gun had no bullets to fire, and realised that she had had her second chance. This time, she was definitely going to die.

The cat got closer. Clarke shut her eyes and waited for the end.

It didn't come. She heard someone yell out and opened her eyes to see the cat about to pounce on her when something came from nowhere and slammed into the cat.

Aerrow.

He had grabbed a vine, jumped from the tree and swung straight into the side of the cat, knocking it to the ground.

Both stood quickly and sized each other up. The cat snarled. Aerrow stared straight at it, holding his now fully extended bo-staff in front of him.

The cat pounced, driving into Aerrow and sending him back-first into the ground. Aerrow however just kept the momentum, rolled back and kicked it away with both his feet.

He stood again and turned. The cat lunged again, and Aerrow parried it away with his staff. It tried again, and Aerrow did the same thing. Over, and over again, evading its every move with equal skill.

Aerrow's training was paying off, but he knew he couldn't keep this up forever, his abilities were being pushed to the extreme, and he was tiring fast. If he and the others were going to survive, he needed to end this now.

On the cat's next attack, he sidestepped and kicked its knee in as hard as he could, shattering the bone.

The cat howled in pain, but Aerrow wasn't done yet

He planted a brutal blow to the cat's skull with his staff, paralysing it, before drawing his knife and stabbing it deep into the beast's chest, finally killing it.

Breathing hard, with adrenaline pumping through him, Aerrow slowly stood and turned to face the others. He was bloody and bruised, and he had 3 deep cuts on the upper right side of his chest, inflicted by the animal's claws, but he was alive, and so were the others, thanks to him.

As Aerrow stared at them, the other 5 were speechless. Clarke especially so because she was the one who would have certainly died if it weren't for him. All of them though, even Bellamy and Murphy, were stunned by the bravery and the skill that they had just witnessed.

Clarke recovered first, saying they needed to get Jasper back to the camp. Finn finished cutting the vines holding him and he and Wells brought him down to flat ground. Bellamy and Murphy meanwhile were rolling the dead cat into a parachute to take back as food.

They headed off back to the camp, with Finn and Wells carrying Jasper and Bellamy and Murphy carrying the dead cat.

Aerrow was about to go and help them, when Clarke grabbed his hand.

Eyes downcast, and with his sweat streaked hair falling over his eyes, blocking out most of his vision, he turned back to look at her

"what"

She stared at him for what felt like hours, but in reality was only seconds. He didn't know what she was going to say, but the last thing he expected was for her to lean in to kiss him. For a fleeting instant, he wanted to do the same, but he forced himself not to.

He pulled away, and put his hand on her shoulder, stopping her from getting any closer.

She glanced up at him, a confused look on her face.

Before she could say anything, Aerrow simply squeezed her shoulder and said "you don't want to do that" in a degree of sincerity and friendliness that she didn't think was possible to exist, especially not from the man who 20 minutes previously had slain a giant mutant panther with his bare hands.

That didn't mean she didn't want to kiss him though.

"why not?" she asked.

"because the people who get close to me get hurt, and besides, there's someone else much more deserving of you than me" he replied simply, glancing at Finn up ahead.

Clarke realised what he meant.

"Finn, no!" she said, straight away "why would I want to be with Finn?"

"because you like him, and he likes you. I've seen the way you look at each other. You bring out the best in each other, something I just can't do"

He smiled sadly, turning and walking away to re-join the others, leaving Clarke to ponder over what he had just said.

They made their way silently back to the camp. No-one said anything, no one really wanted to. Aerrow walked out in front, guiding them back. He couldn't sense it, but he had drawn an enormous amount of respect from the other 5 who had witnessed his actions and what he was truly capable of and what he was willing to do to protect them.

It was dark by the time they got back. The others had obviously found the log Aerrow had cut down earlier, because a roaring fire greeted them with some much needed warmth.

The crowd swarmed over to them, mostly because of the food they were carrying. Bellamy said they would share it equally, much to the surprise of everyone. They had become so used to his 'whatever the hell we want' mindset that for him to be acting this way was completely out of the ordinary. Aerrow just smiled to himself. He had gotten through Bellamy's thick head and forced him to see what he needed to be to lead the group and ensure their survival. For the time being at least.

Aerrow wasn't hungry. He was used to surviving off the smallest amount of food possible. Instead, he grabbed a burning stick from the fire, and walked some distance away from the main camp, back over towards flatter ground where he had chopped the tree down.

He was tired and needed to get some sleep. He was also fed up of being around people. He guessed it was because of his time in solitary, and it wasn't easy to adjust back.

He set the flaming stick down, and gathered up some surrounding logs to build a shelter. The main camp consisted of bits from the drop ship, but Aerrow wanted to make a shelter of his own, away from everyone else so he could have some peace and quiet.

He made himself a simple A-frame shelter, with a sleeping platform about a metre off the ground, about the size of a large single bed, made of vines and soft leaves with one of the parachutes as a mattress and a blanket, with another piece of parachute over the top of the whole thing to stop the rain getting in. He then chucked his belongings inside, put the torch out, climbed in to the shelter and went to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm still working on recovering the lost work, but in the meantime, as I promised, I will keep updating this story because you guys seem to like it and I like writing about Aerrow, particularly how he interacts with other characters, which is explored later on. For now though, to answer some of your questions, for those of you wanting to know more detail about how Aerrow looks, just picture from Arrow (if you have seen it) Oliver Queen's face, complexion and near shoulder length hair from the island with the **grounder's** body shape. As for whether Clarke gets with Finn, Aerrow, both or neither, all will be revealed in these next three chapters, which see a big turning point in Aerrow's life, both on the ground and up in the Ark.**

Over the course of the next few days, Aerrow kept his distance from the rest of the group. He had revealed several important aspects about himself and thought it best to let them sink in to those who had found out what he was capable of.

Ha made some improvements to his shelter and set up a more convenient area for him to train, behind a rock face and out of sight of the group.

He put a long and relatively thick branch between two trees for him to chin-ups and various others things from. He also wrapped some soft material from the drop ship around the trunk of another tree so he could practice his many styles of martial arts.

Occasionally he would go hunting with other members of the group, but only when their numbers were down and food was needed. Usually he would go hunting on his own. He preferred it that way. It was quieter and he could do what he wanted. It was what he enjoyed most about being free.

And then, on clear nights, he would take the top off of his shelter and just gaze at the stars, thinking of all the things that had happened in his life since being told he was getting sent to the ground.

He also helped the others build a wall around the main camp, to prevent the grounders from entering it. Aerrow's little set up lay outside of the wall. He was fine with that. He thought that no-one had even noticed it. He was wrong, a few people had, for they had been watching him closely since the rescue mission. None of them were massively concerned. Some had seen that he could take care of himself and others thought that him being outside the wall was a good thing if the grounders did decide to attack.

One day, as he was re-tying some of the lashings on his shelter, he heard a scream resonate from somewhere else outside the camp. He grabbed his knife and staff and headed over to see what was going on.

He pushed his way through the gathering crowd until he saw what had caused the scream. There, lying dead in a pool of his own blood, a deep puncture mark in his throat, was Wells.

Panic set in amongst the group. The thought of a grounder killing Wells just outside the boundary of their camp scared them all half to death. No-one felt safe anymore.

Staring at Wells' body however, Aerrow had the suspicion that a grounder hadn't been involved in his death at all.

Aerrow observed Clarke very closely in the days following Wells' death. Not for any reason other than the fact that she had been the closest to Wells and she seemed to be taking his death really badly. She spent multiple hours each day at his gravesite, head bowed in sorrow.

Aerrow wanted to be able to go over and say something or do something to cheer her up, but he knew he wouldn't be able to. Long ago he had lost the light inside of him at made other people happy. Besides, he saw Finn doing that job.

One day, Aerrow was helping Jasper find his feet again and walk around the camp, when Clarke came up to him and asked him to help her take her wristband off.

He asked why and she said it was to hurt her mother. Aerrow recognised that she wasn't going to give any further details, so didn't ask any further questions.

He had heard Monty was working on a way to communicate with the Ark but need a working wristband to do so, and prying the bands off with tree branches de-activated them immediately.

Monty said the wristband need to be broken at its exact joining point to remain functional, so Aerrow decided to use his knife instead.

He and Clarke sat down on a log, and Aerrow drew his knife.

He noticed the nervous look on her face when she saw what he was planning to do.

"Trust me" he said, placing a re-assuring hand on her shoulder

She nodded, and Aerrow jammed the knife precisely into the gap in the wrist band, before twisting it. The wristband popped open, drawing a squeal from Clarke as the needles came out of her skin. Monty took the wrist band and said it was still operational, breathing a sigh of relief. He got to work on it, saying they would be talking to the Ark by nightfall.

Clarke walked back over to Aerrow, who finally decided to find out what caused her to take the wristband off.

"Why did you do that? Not so long ago you said the only way the Ark would think you were dead was if you were dead"

"I have my reasons" she said in a huff. She didn't want to tell him those reasons, but she remembered how he had shown her his scars, even though he didn't want to.

"To hurt my mother" she said angrily "she was the one who got my father killed"

He didn't reply. He just nodded, accepting the fact she didn't really want to talk about it but also noticing that she trusted him enough to tell him the truth.

Clarke walked out of the drop ship and Aerrow went back to helping build the wall.

Half an hour later he heard a commotion, and looked up to see Clarke shoving Murphy backwards saying he killed Wells, holding up Murphy's knife which Jasper had apparently found next to 2 of Wells' fingers.

Again, the crowd gathered as Murphy retorted saying he didn't kill him and that plenty of other people had reason to kill Wells.

"you were the only one to publicly try and kill him, and with this same knife"

"yeah and I didn't, thanks to your purple eyed boyfriend over there" he said, nodding at Aerrow, who didn't say anything

Another boy, one who Murphy had very recently publicly humiliated by peeing on him, spoke up, saying they should float him.

The crowd seemed to like this idea, and turned on Murphy before Clarke, Bellamy or Aerrow could do anything. They strung a rope over a tree, and tied a loop around Murphy's neck. They were going to hang him.

They urged Bellamy to kick the stand out from under Murphy's feet. Clarke begged him not to, saying he wasn't a killer. Aerrow watched on as Bellamy strode up to Murphy and kicked the stand out, condemning him to death.

Finn appeared and shouted to get Murphy down, when someone pulled out a knife and held it to his throat.

Aerrow just stood and watched as Murphy swung by his neck on the rope, a cold glare in his eyes. He wanted to do something, to stop the crowd, but Murphy reminded him so much of Dylan Joyce, in his psychopathic desire for violence, and Aerrow had never gotten the chance to exact his revenge on Dylan, so he settled for Murphy.

Suddenly, a little girl, about 12 or 13 screamed above the crowd, saying that Murphy didn't kill Wells. She had.

Everyone gasped. Clarke grabbed Aerrow's knife and sliced through the rope suspending Murphy and he dropped to the ground, wheezing and gasping for air. Bellamy grabbed the girl and took her with him into his tent, with Clarke and Finn following close behind.

Aerrow didn't know whether to go with them or stay outside and try to control the crowd, who were now baying for blood, with Murphy, who had recovered from his near death, leading the pack. He retrieved his knife and decided to go into the tent.

He walked in just as Bellamy was asking Finn and Clarke for ideas on how to handle the situation. Aerrow felt the slightest bit of pity for him. He looked clueless, and helpless.

Bellamy saw Aerrow walk in. "I need you to go out there and hold them off while we think of what to do"

"I can't do that" he replied

"Why the hell not?" Bellamy shouted desperately.

"because I'm not superman" he replied sternly "I can't hold off a crowd that big. If I go out there and try to hold them off, they will storm into this tent and kill all of us"

Murphy continued to shout for Bellamy to bring the girl out

"look" Aerrow continued "the best thing we can do is get her as far away from Murphy as possible"

"but they'll see us the minute we leave the tent" Clarke said

"I agree. Which is why you and me" Aerrow said pointing to Bellamy "will distract them"

Aerrow and Bellamy exited the front of the tent and faced Murphy.

Bellamy immediately told Murphy to back off. He didn't, instead, he turned to the crowd and told them that they should hang the girl. Only some of them agreed. Murphy did not like this reaction, and said they were all cowards.

"Murphy!" Bellamy shouted "it's over!"

Murphy seemed to relent "sure boss, whatever you say"

Bellamy turned to walk back to the tent, Aerrow with him, when Murphy picked up a nearby log and bashed it against the back of Bellamy's head, knocking him out. Aerrow turned quickly and planted a brutal side kick to Murphy's stomach, sending him to the ground. It felt so good to finally show the asshole what it meant to feel pain, but he had no time to consider this as Murphy's followers turned on him.

He drew his staff. Spinning and twirling, he managed to take a few of them down, but it was a losing battle. Soon, one of them brought him to the ground with a kick to his ankles. The goons swarmed on him, holding him in front of Murphy with his hands behind his back. Murphy, still clutching his stomach, picked up Aerrow's fallen staff and tossed it in his hands.

"well, this is a mighty fine weapon you have here" he smirked "I might just have to keep it, and give you a taste of your own medicine"

He sung the staff at Aerrow. The cracking of bone as it hit the side of his head was sickening and in an instant, Aerrow saw nothing but black.


	7. Chapter 7

**This is the chapter I have been building up towards since I first posted this story. It is massive for Aerrow's character development both on the ground and in the Ark, where we finally learn where he got his scars from. It will probably be the biggest change in Aerrow's character over the course of the story, depending on what happens in future episodes. This chapter and the next one really establish Aerrow's feelings both for himself and the other people in his life, and set him up for how he acts in future chapters.**

Night had fallen by the time Aerrow regained consciousness. There was no-one else around. His head thumped, and his training did nothing to stop the pain thumping through his head as he sat up.

He looked around for his weapons. He found his knife still in its holster, but his staff was nowhere to be seen. Then he remembered that Murphy had taken it before knocking him out.

Murphy. Rage welled up inside of Aerrow at the thought of him, and that made the pain go away. The pain was replaced by focus, and the overwhelming desire to put Murphy down once and for all. He got to his feet, and found the tracks of Murphy and his goons in the mud. Eyes narrowed and with his knife in his hand, Aerrow set off after them.

He moved quickly, with brutal efficiency, his anger sharpening his every sense.

After walking for 45 minutes, he heard voices yelling up ahead.

Keeping to the shadows, he crept up on the group of people. He jumped and caught the lower branch of a tree, hauling himself up. He moved through the branches until he was directly over the group.

Bellamy was standing with the girl who Aerrow now knew from the shouts of the crowd was called Charlotte. Murphy told Bellamy that he couldn't fight all of them, gesturing to the group of 4 people behind him.

Bellamy said he was going to try anyway, and advanced towards Murphy when Clarke and Finn ran into the clearing and stood between Bellamy and Murphy. Clarke begged Murphy to stop.

Murphy paused, before grabbing Clarke and holding a knife to her throat.

Aerrow saw the knife draw a thin line of blood as it cut into her skin, and he remembered what that felt like

_Dylan Joyce had been Aerrow's friend in guard school. They did everything together. Until one day when Aerrow received notice that he had been fast tracked to be full guard status instead of Dylan. Dylan was never the same after that. Soon, he completely stopped talking to Aerrow._

_One day, as Aerrow was walking towards the food hall, he was struck on the back of the head. He awoke to find himself suspended by his arms from the roof of a scrap metal facility. Dylan stood in front of him. "Being a guard was everything to me, it was my whole life, the only thing I cared about. Then you had to go and take that from me. So now, I'm going to take everything away from you. _

_He stood aside to reveal to Aerrow, also hanging from the roof, his mother, his father, and his girlfriend, Arianna. Aerrow's eyes went wide with fear. He wanted to shout at Dylan, but his mouth was covered by a rag. _

_Dylan picked up a shredded piece of metal, with horrible sharp edges down the sides. He walked over to Arianna. To Aerrow's horror, he drew it across her throat, causing blood to spill to the floor. Just before she was about to die, he stabbed the piece of metal right the way through her chest. _

_Tears were streaming down Aerrow's face as her body slumped and her life ebbed away. Dylan withdrew the piece of metal from her body, leaving a ragged hole in her chest._

_Aerrow was forced to watch as Dylan did the exact same thing to his mother and father, and the three guards who had granted him full status._

_Finally, Dylan made his way over to Aerrow, who just hung there, defeated and broken. His eyes actually lit up when Dylan held the piece of metal to his throat, glad that the suffering would finally end._

_Dylan noticed, and chuckled. "no, no, no Aerrow. Death is too good for you. Instead, I will bring you to within an inch of death, and then leave you to suffer for the rest of your life"_

_For the next 3 hours, Dylan slashed at Aerrow's body with his weapon, opening up deep cuts and gashes. Even through the cloth over his mouth, Aerrow's screams echoed through the room, unheard by anyone other than the psychopath in front of him._

_When Aerrow slipped into unconsciousness, Dylan cut him down, cleaned up the blood and closed Aerrow's hand around the blade of metal, before leaving the room and alerting the other guards to the awful scene._

_When Aerrow woke up, he found himself locked on his own in a prison cell, his body and mind destroyed both mentally and physically._

Eyes still burning with anger at the memory, Aerrow leapt down from the tree, landing behind Murphy, kicked his feet from underneath him and proceeded to beat his face to a pulp. Murphy's goons went to pull Aerrow off of him, but he was too fast, too skilled, too good.

He took them all down one by one. He kicked one in the groin, before spinning and delivering a flat palmed blow to the nose of another, and then grabbed another one's head and slammed it into a tree. He didn't even show a sign of relenting, only stopping when all that was left was a pile of groaning bodies.

Somehow Murphy was still alive. He staggered to his feet and stared at Aerrow, who sent him to the ground again with a karate chop to the throat.

Aerrow stood over him, and retrieved his staff from Murphy's prone body. He turned to look at Clarke. She was horrified at what she had just witnessed him do, at the lack of mercy he had shown Murphy and his goons. She saw him draw his knife, eyes alight with rage. "Please" she begged him, tears in her eyes "don't"

He was holding back tears of his own. He wanted to listen to her. He wanted to put his knife back in his holster, but the memories of Dylan Joyce kept him from doing so.

"I'm sorry" was all he said, before raising the knife over his head and bringing it down towards Murphy's heart

"No!" Charlotte cried out desperately.

The little girls cry echoed throughout the trees.

Somehow, it managed to penetrate through the anger and rage that had enveloped itself around Aerrow. He stopped, and turned to look at her.

"I can't let anyone else get hurt" she said "not because of me, not after what I did"

After that, she turned and jumped of the edge of the cliff they were standing on. Clarke shouted out for her to stop but it was too late. The knife dropped from Aerrow's hand as she sailed over the edge and out of sight.

Clarke fell to her knees at the edge of the cliff, screaming. Bellamy crouched down next to her. Finn just stood and stared and Murphy lapsed into unconsciousness.

Aerrow meanwhile gathered himself up, put his knife and staff back on his belt and staggered back to the camp


	8. Chapter 8

**This chapter is short and sweet, put in as a culmination of several emotions that have been building since the first chapter.**

Aerrow collapsed into his shelter, his shoulders heaving as he sobbed desperately into the parachute material. Clarke had been right. He was a murderer. He was a freak.

He sat up and looked at the star crossed night sky, up at the ark, where he had crossed into the realm of death and returned, and he realised that in the process of doing that, he had left his soul behind.

Then he looked down at the knife on his belt, the knife he had crafted with Arianna, the knife that he would have killed Murphy with, and he drew it.

He held it in front of him in his shaking hands. As he held it, he closed his eyes. He pictured Arianna, her smiling face that brought him so much joy. And then he saw Dylan slit her throat and stab her right in from of him. He saw her shoulders droop, her chest stop moving and her eyes glaze over as death took her from him.

Opening his eyes and staring at the knife, he rotated it in his hands so that the point was facing directly at his heart. He whispered goodbye and then –

"hey" a soft voice called out

A hand on his shoulder stopped him from plunging the knife into his own chest. He jumped and scuttled away quickly, back into the darkness of his shelter, only stopping when he was pressed as far into the back wall of the shelter as he could.

He stared at the figure in front of him, and realised it was Clarke.

Her eyes were red and her cheeks were puffy. She had been crying, too.

"what are you planning on doing with that knife?" she asked

She knew full well what he was planning on doing, but she had already lost Charlotte, her only way of contacting the Ark and her relationship with Finn, all in one night. She wasn't going to lose another person she held dear in her heart.

Slowly, he moved back to the front of the shelter

"I would have killed him" he sniffed, staring straight ahead, not even attempting to make eye contact "I wanted to"

Clarke sat down next to him "but you didn't"

Aerrow turned to look at her, to find her staring straight into his eyes.

"only because of Charlotte" he replied, his pained voice almost a whisper "you were right. I am a murderer"

"no you aren't"

"then what am I?" he was on the verge of breaking into tears again, his self-control had all but disappeared.

Clarke held her gaze, and then took his hand in hers

"you are brave and you are strong. You endured a level of torture that would have killed anyone else, and yet you lived. And you are the person who saved my life" She noticed how he was staring once again up into the night sky "stargazer"

He looked up. That was the same nickname that Arianna had once given him.

A single tear rolled down his cheek. Slowly, he put the knife down.

He turned to face her again and suddenly had the sensation of her lips on his. He hadn't experienced a kiss for so long, the feeling felt almost alien, but at the same time it felt like rediscovering a lost part of him, the part of him that enjoyed being alive. For the first time in so long he felt happiness. He felt it resonating within him, overpowering his senses.

He pulled Clarke closer to him, pressing his trembling body against hers, and both of them started to remove their clothes.

Clarke ran her hands over his body, feeling the ridges of his scars and the rippling of his muscles, kissing him passionately the entire time.

They laid back onto the soft sleeping platform of the shelter, and gave themselves to each other.

In that moment, everything else was forgotten. The pain, the grief, the loneliness, it all faded away. Tonight was just about them. They had each other, and that was all that mattered.


	9. Chapter 9

**When I first started writing this story, I had originally planned for Clarke to get with Finn first and then Aerrow after she found out about Raven. However, as the story progressed I altered the storyline so Finn didn't get with her. I am interested in what you guys think of Clarke and Aerrow being together. A few chapters from now I introduce another female character who Aerrow forges a strong bond with, and after seeing the latest episode I am contemplating where to go with his relationship with Clarke as I am currently drafting the story for episode 8. Let me know what you guys think, the help will be much appreciated.**

They had slept facing each other, not wanting to separate and break their connection.

They had protected each other in their sleep. Aerrow with his arms wrapped around her to protect her from physical demons, and Clarke with her hand on his cheek to protect him from his mental ones.

As Aerrow slept, he dreamed.

Dreamed about the events of the past 24 hours. Murphy holding a knife to Clarke's throat, him nearly killing Murphy, Charlotte jumping off the cliff and Clarke stopping him from killing himself.

He opened his eyes and rolled over to look up at the night sky, but instead saw Murphy standing above him with a knife in his hands. Before Aerrow could do anything, Murphy's face morphed into Dylan's and he brought the knife down, stabbing both Aerrow and Clarke.

Aerrow woke with a scream.

Sitting up in the shelter, he turned to look at Clarke, still sleeping peacefully beside him. It was still night time. He leant over and kissed her forehead, before getting dressed and walking away from the shelter, not knowing that Clarke had been awake the entire time.

She waited until he was far enough away, before putting her own clothes back on and following him.

She found him in his secret training area, hanging shirtless and upside down by his feet from a tree branch doing sit ups, the moonlight reflecting off of his muscles. He then flipped over and started doing one armed chin-ups. Clarke counted ten on each arm

He didn't know she was standing there, watching him silently, admiring his strength.

Soon he dropped down from the tree, and headed over to a small stream, the same one he had jumped into off of the waterfall that first day on the ground.

After going for a quick swim in the water, he walked to the top of the waterfall and sat down on a rock on the edge, just gazing out at the moonlit forest.

Clarke crept up behind him, being very careful not to make a sound. She wanted to see what he did when he was alone and peaceful like this.

"I come here every night" he said softly.

So he did know she was there.

"how long ago did you notice me" she asked

"I knew you were there the entire time" he shrugged

"so why didn't you say anything"

"sometimes it's better not to. Sometimes it's better to just watch, relax and listen to your feelings, not your words. It's why I come up here"

She sat down beside him. He put his arm around her, and she rested her head against his neck. The two just sat there, not saying a word. They recognised now how deeply they cared for one another, and both appreciated the comfort in having someone to hold.

Suddenly, a stream of light flashed across the sky. A shooting star.

"beautiful, isn't it?" he said

Clarke turned to look at him, he staring straight ahead, at the shooting star.

She looked back up at the sky "yeah, yeah it is"

The light came closer, and soon it became apparent that the shooting star wasn't actually a shooting star. It was a small pod from the Ark!

Aerrow quickly put his shirt back on and he and Clarke raced back up to the main camp. The rest of the 100 were already gathered in the clearing, watching the spectacle.

"did you guys see that?" a girl asked them, walking up to Clarke "that was from the Ark right? It had to be?"

"Grab your stuff, let's find out" Clarke replied

"Bellamy said that were going to wait until sunrise"

"Where is he" Clarke asked

Aerrow scanned the camp, looking for him. Bellamy was no-where to be seen.

Clarke huffed and walked over to Bellamy's tent and entered it. Aerrow followed, but not because it was her. He did care about her, but he was no longer able to become that attached to any one person. He followed her because he found the whole situation with Bellamy saying to wait until sunrise to search for the pod and then disappearing very suspicious.

Aerrow walked into the tent to find two girls in the middle of getting dressed who had obviously been Bellamy's company for the night. Clarke asked them where Bellamy was.

"he took off a while ago" one of them replied sourly

Aerrow grabbed Clarke and they exited the tent. Finn came up and asked where Bellamy was.

"His gears gone" Aerrow told him

"He told everyone to stay" Clarke said, realising what was going on "whatever's in that thing he wants it. We've gotta get there before he does".

The three of them came to the entrance to the camp. Aerrow spotted some fresh tracks in the mud. "he went off this way, straight towards where the pod would have landed" he pointed out. They set off after Bellamy, hoping it wasn't too late to stop him from getting his hands on whatever was in the pod that he was after.

Aerrow was out in front, leading the way, with Finn and Clarke a few metres behind. Although he didn't look like it, Aerrow was paying as much attention to what was going on behind him as he was to the tracks in front of him.

He heard Finn tell Clarke that it wasn't her fault Bellamy got the jump on them

"I should have known he'd go for that radio" she replied

"how can you be sure?"

"Because he's spent every single minute since we landed making sure no-one on the Ark finds out we're alive"

Aerrow thought about that, and realised Clarke was right. First the wristbands and now this. There was definitely more to Bellamy Blake than they had first thought.

"that doesn't mean you can predict what people are going to do" Finn continued

"that's exactly what I have to do"

Aerrow smiled to himself. If Clarke was going to try that on him she was in for a lot of trouble. He had allowed himself to become attached to her, but he was still very much his own person, and he made his own decisions, not really caring what other people thought of them.

"I screwed up" Clarke continued "I let myself get distracted"

Aerrow paused at that. Surely Clarke couldn't have been talking about what happened between them last night. It had meant something. Not just for him but also for her. After all, she was the one who kissed him first. It was a shared moment of want and need, their built up feelings for each other finally spilling over.

"what's wrong" Clarke asked, catching up to him

"Nothing, I just thought I heard something" Aerrow lied.

"well come on stargazer, we don't have all day" she huffed, walking off after the tracks faster than ever. Aerrow just stood there and shook his head.

Finn came up beside him and turned to face him, smiling. "she's calling you stargazer now. That's cute" he said sarcastically "at least now we each have our own nicknames: the spacewalker, the princess and now the stargazer"

"well it's a damn sight better that switchblade" Aerrow muttered, resuming his pursuit of Bellamy

"I saw you two come back into the camp holding hands" Finn pressed on "you get lucky last night?"

Unseen by Finn, Aerrow clenched his fist. He didn't have time for this right now so he decided to go along with Finn's humour.

"what would you say if I said I did?"

"Uhh, I don't actually know" Finn replied. Aerrow notice the slight look of resentment that came over Finn's face as he said it.

"yes, I did spend the night with Clarke, but it's complicated I don't really want to talk about it" Aerrow said quietly "what happened between the two of you anyway, not so long ago I was sure you were the one she was going to end up with"

"yeah, I thought so too" Finn chuckled "but then I remembered I already have someone. I care about Clarke, but I can't just forget Raven"

Aerrow turned to look at Finn, and saw a look of undying love in his eyes. Love for the girl, Raven. Aerrow recognised the look. He had seen it before: on himself, staring at the mirror when he was with Arianna.

Aerrow shook the thought from his head instantly. Thinking about her still made him squeeze his eyes shut to prevent tears from forming in them. Although he didn't want to, he knew he had to forget about her so survive down on the ground, where even the slightest clouding of his judgement could get him or someone else he cared about hurt. The best thing to do was to leave what happened in the past in the past and keep his mind in the present.

Aerrow nodded slowly at Finn, and then quickened his pace, catching up with Clarke so they could find the pod. Hopefully before Bellamy did


	10. Chapter 10

**Note: in case some of you don't like my portrayal of Bellamy in this chapter, I made him act the way he does to demonstrate how much he doesn't want the Ark to know the 100 are alive. When I first wrote this I wasn't the biggest fan of the Bellamy character either, but especially after the latest episode I'm starting to come around to him, and there are some good interactions between him and Aerrow later in the story.**

Dawn had broken by the time they found the pod.

Clarke yanked the door open to find a person sitting unconscious in a space suit. Aerrow poke his head into the cockpit and saw that the radio was missing. The space where it had once been was empty and the wires that had once been connected to it had been severed. Aerrow could tell from the clean edges of the exposed wires that they had been cut with a knife. He knew instantly what had happened.

"Bellamy" he said coldly

"we have to find him" Clarke told him

"No" Aerrow replied instantly "you two stay here and look after whoever this is. I'll deal with Bellamy" with that, he drew his knife and walked off, leaving Clarke and Finn behind.

Finding Bellamy wasn't difficult. The guy hadn't even tried to conceal his tracks, instead leaving heavy, easily identifiable footprints in the dirt. Occasionally, Aerrow saw long marks in the soil that had obviously been made by the wires from the radio dragging on the ground.

Bellamy stood on the bank of a river. He was about to throw the radio in when suddenly, something came from nowhere and knocked it from his hands. Aerrow's knife.

Bellamy turned around, to find Aerrow standing there, staring fiercely at him.

"Rack off Violet eyes, this doesn't concern you"

"yes it does Bellamy, because you are once again destroying our only way of contacting the Ark"

Bellamy clenched his fists, and started advancing towards Aerrow, who just stood there, poised and ready.

"there's something you're not telling us, isn't there?" Aerrow continued "you are not a guard, or a prisoner and yet you still managed to get on that drop hip. You did something didn't you? You did something to get on the drop ship that you don't want anyone else finding out about so, Blake" Aerrow paused "what are you hiding?"

Bellamy said nothing. Instead, he swung his fist at Aerrow's head. Aerrow ducked. Bellamy tried again, only for Aerrow to lean back, avoiding that blow as well. Bellamy tried a third time, only for Aerrow to crouch down and spin around on his heel, tripping Bellamy over.

Bellamy was back on his feet in an instant, and continued trying to punch Aerrow. This time Aerrow caught the punch, swung around, elbowed Bellamy in his back and got him in a head lock. Bellamy struggled to pull free, but Aerrow held his grip tight. Truth be told, Aerrow wasn't trying to kill Bellamy. Far from it. He was just trying to restrain him

"It doesn't have to be this way" Aerrow hissed in Bellamy's ear "take the radio back, and this will be forgotten"

Bellamy wasn't going to do that. He resumed his struggle to break free of Aerrow's headlock, but to no avail. Suddenly, he remembered.

_The previous night, he had seen Clarke come back into the camp, tear streaks on her cheeks. He was about to go and ask her what had happened, when she left the camp again and headed down to Aerrow's little shelter. He watched silently from the gate as she sat down beside a crying Aerrow, kissed him and then laid back into the shelter with him. Bellamy could no longer see what they were doing, but he knew exactly what was going on._

"So how was your night last night" he choked "have fun with the princess?"

That drew a reaction. Aerrow shut his eyes and Bellamy felt the grip around his neck loosen ever so slightly. Bellamy took his opportunity. He elbowed Aerrow in the stomach before pulling out of the headlock and kicked the teenager's feet out from under him. Aerrow hit the ground hard, only for Bellamy to start kicking him viciously in his ribs"

"you think you're so high and mighty" Bellamy taunted in between kicks "you think you are untouchable with all your so called skills. You think you're so strong, and yet you are so pathetic that last night you were about to commit suicide only to be stopped by your dear little princess"

Aerrow grimaced as he felt one of his ribs crack

"you told me yesterday that you aren't superman" Bellamy continued "you were right. You are as far from superman as it is possible to get"

Bellamy finally stopped. Aerrow just lay on the ground, unable and unwilling to move

Bellamy leant down so his mouth was next to Aerrow's ear "you are nothing" he hissed "remember that in future, switchblade"

With that, he stood up and walked over to the radio, still lying on the ground. Without any further thought, Bellamy picked up the radio and tossed it into the river, before walking back to the camp pretending nothing happened


	11. Chapter 11

**In this chapter I introduce a new female character that I took from the 'Arrow' universe: Sara. She is identical in looks to the Sara in season 2 of 'Arrow', except in this story I modified her character to make her younger, happier, more carefree and vulnerable and without any fighting ability, kind of like how she is on the island if you are familiar with the show. I put her in primarily to add another dimension to Aerrow's character in the way he interacts with people, and we will see him forge a strong friendship with Sara as the story progress, possibly even more as I still haven't decided how to progress Aerrow and Clarke's relationship for episode 8. Your opinion on this would be much appreciated so just comment what you think of Aerrow's relationship with Clarke and Sara and how you think I should progress it.**

Aerrow sat with his back propped up against a tree, his head in his hands.

He couldn't believe it. He had gotten into a one on one fight with Bellamy, and he had lost. All because Bellamy brought up Clarke.

He cursed himself. He had spent the last two years of his life training himself to ignore these sorts of emotions, and yet here he was, disregarding everything he had taught himself because of one person.

"Aerrow, where are you?" Clarke's voice rang out amongst the trees.

Aerrow looked up at the sky, allowing the back of his head to hit the tree he was up against. Great. Just the person he wanted to be around at this point in time.

Clarke spotted him sitting against a tree next to the river and walked over to him

"what happened?" she asked "where's Bellamy?"

Aerrow sighed "he threw the radio into the river. I tried to stop him but he got the jump on me and put me down"

"what?" Clarke exclaimed, not understanding how Bellamy had gotten the better of Aerrow "how did you let Bellamy beat you?"

"I screwed up, let myself get distracted" Aerrow shrugged, his voice distant, deliberately repeating what Clarke had said earlier

"Aerrow, I" Clarke tried to explain "when I said that, I was talking about us"

"well I am"

"what?" Clarke couldn't believe what he was saying

"I thought I wanted this, wanted you. But I lost to Bellamy because he mentioned you, and it distracted me. Listen, I built up these skills to protect the people I care about. But now I'm letting these people and my feelings for them back into my life and my skills are being affected, something I can't let happen if I want to keep you safe. I'm sorry Clarke"

Clarke didn't know what to say. She had never been in a proper relationship before, and now she was finally with someone she truly cared about and it was over before it had really started. She understood what he was saying, at least a little, but she didn't accept it.

"Yeah I'm sorry too" she said sourly, turning away and heading back to the camp to get the others so they could find the radio.

Aerrow just watched her go. He closed his eyes again. He didn't want to forget about Clarke, but knew he had to if he wanted to keep her safe. He turned around and stared at the forest.

Slowly, he rose to his feet, his broken rib sending twinges of pain through his body. Aerrow focussed on it and made it go away, exactly as he had taught himself to do.

He walked away from the river slightly, and then turned to face the nearest tree. He then punched it, kicked it, practising the martial arts moves on it that he knew so well. The tree wasn't exactly ideal. The bark cut into his skin, drawing blood. He didn't care though. He just needed to do something to forget about the events of the past 24 hours, and this was the best way for him to do that.

Aerrow suddenly stopped his assault on the tree and drew his knife. He spun around and threw it at another tree, just as he had done so many times previously. This time though, the knife missed the tree, flying past it and landing harmlessly on the ground.

Aerrow just stood there and stared at it. He sighed. Somehow in the past 24 hours, he had lost something. He had lost the part of him that gave him his edge, his skill, his courage. Whatever it was in his heart that allowed him to take on a giant mutant panther and win. Aerrow sat back down against the tree, and another memory lodged itself in his head.

_Two months after being discovered by the guards and thrown in the skybox, Aerrow's body had more or less recovered from his torture at the hands of Dylan Joyce. The only remnants were the pink scars that now criss-crossed his body, a permanent reminder of that fateful day. Emotionally however, Aerrow was still a wreck. He couldn't stop the scenes he witnessed replying over and over again in his head. He had stopped eating altogether, and he still cried himself to sleep every night._

_One day, his cellmate, a scruffy looking kid about a year older than Aerrow got sick of his moaning and decided to put an end to it._

_He got up and walked over to Aerrow, before punching him in the face and telling him to shut up._

_Aerrow was on his feet instantly, a look of pure rage on his face. Using the attacks he had learnt from the guards, he brutally kicked the man's knee inwards, shattering it. He then kneed the kid hard in his stomach, winding him, before punching his throat, grabbing his head and bashing it mercilessly against the wall of the cell._

_Soon, a group of guards were alerted to the scene, and came rushing into the cell. By then it was too late. Aerrow had killed him._

_Aerrow looked down at the lifeless body at his feet, and then at the angry expressions on the faces of the guards. He realised what he had done and knew instantly that it would land him in solitary confinement for sure. _

_He saw it as a chance to escape from everything and finally be alone. However, he also saw it as an opportunity. An opportunity to take his revenge on Dylan._

_He sprinted past the guards and out of the skybox, back towards his old quarters. The guards gave chase but were no match for the younger, faster Aerrow._

_He raced into his quarters and immediately began searching through what was left of his stuff. He was looking for three things in particular. He found his knife and his staff almost straight away, and he quickly stored them out of sight in their holsters, hidden under his jacket. He also found various books and videos containing everything he thought he would need to learn. However, he couldn't find the one thing wanted to the most: a picture of Arianna. _

_He finally found it as the guards stormed into the room. He tried to gather the photo up but the guards grabbed him and he dropped it. It didn't matter though. He had glimpsed her face, engrained the picture in his memory._

_The guards dragged him out of the room and straight back to the skybox. This time they put him into solitary confinement, where Aerrow would be able to build up the skills he needed alone and eventually take his revenge._

Aerrow actually smiled at the memory of a time when he didn't have to worry about anything other than training himself.

Aerrow turned as he heard voices back down by the river. He picked himself up and walked back down to the bank, stopping just before the edge of the tree line.

He saw a group of about 30 people scouring the river, looking for the radio that he had been unable to stop Bellamy from throwing into the water. He spotted Finn and an unfamiliar girl with blood on her forehead walking hand in hand along the river bank. That must be Raven, he thought, she must have been the person in the pod. He also saw Clarke, wandering gloomily through the water.

One seeing her he turned away instantly, not wanting anything to do with her.

A few minutes later he heard soft footsteps coming up behind him. Aerrow sighed as he knew it must be Clarke, coming over to either try to convince him to change his mind or at least help her find the radio.

He turned around slowly, an un-interested expression on his face, only to see a younger girl, maybe 15 or 16 years old, walking up to him.

She had a soft, pretty face with bright blue eyes and long, wavy, curled blonde hair, slightly darker in shade than Clarke's but brighter in colour.

"you're the guy that saved Clarke from that panther thing, right?" she asked him

"how do you know about that?" he asked her back

"Clarke told me. She said you saved her life. She also said that you could do this crazy stuff like one armed chin-ups and jump off cliffs. And I saw you catch that knife Murphy threw at you. I'm Sara by the way"

Aerrow couldn't help but smile at the girls bubbly personality. "Aerrow" he said "nice to meet you"

"so, is it true" she continued, a little tentatively. She had a quiet voice with a slightly scratchy accent and when she spoke, her words seemed to connect together "can you really do all that stuff"

"yeah, I guess I can" he replied casually. He didn't want to reveal too much about himself to her. Not yet at least.

"can you show me?"

"no"

"why not?"

"because I don't like to show off" he said sternly, looking at her "I got these skills because of a lot of pain and I…" he trailed off. "why are you so interested in me anyway?"

Sara looked away, down at the ground. She seemed to look inside herself to come up with the words. Eventually, she took a deep breath and said "about 2 years ago, my best friend was killed. Her name was Arianna. She was like an older sister to me. My parents disowned me when I was five. She took me in and shared her rations with me. And then someone slit her throat, and I couldn't do anything about it. Suddenly I was completely alone again."

Aerrow's face softened. He brushed her hair out of her face and she looked at him again. "I know how that feels" he said softly

"how?"

"Because I was there." Sara didn't understand, so Aerrow decided to tell her

"Arianna was my girlfriend. I got promoted to be a guard instead of someone else and he didn't like it, so he kidnapped us and killed her before torturing me"

Aerrow lifted his shirt up to show her his scars. He didn't quite know why, but he had a level of trust for this girl more than anyone else, even Clarke. He guessed it was because she understood how he felt when it came to losing someone he loved and being powerless to stop it.

"I got the blame for it and ended up in solitary confinement, where I spent two years learning the skills that make me what I am today"

He looked at Sara, and saw a desire in her eyes. A desire to become like him, to become a better person and be able to protect the people she cared about. He realised that he wasn't going to be able to say no to helping her achieve that.

He stood up, and pulled her up with him

"so" he said, grinning slightly at her "what do you want to learn?"

Without even waiting for her to answer, he turned and threw his knife at a tree about 20 metres away from him. It hit the tree dead in the centre. Aerrow smiled. Thanks to Sara, his edge had returned.


	12. Chapter 12

**Ok, so after some deliberation I have decided where to progress with Aerrow and his relationships to some of the other characters in the future, around episode 8. I won't reveal anything now, only that the storyline for episode 6 and 7 in my opinion at least is pretty cool, with Aerrow going up against the grounders. For now though, we see Aerrow start to train Sara up and forge a strong friendship with her, which will be expanded on in future chapters, so stay tuned**

Aerrow and Sara stood facing each other in the clearing in Aerrow's training area near his shelter.

For the first time he got to see what she really looked like. She was shorter than him, by about 10 centimetres, but she had a good, consistent body shape with a low centre of gravity. She wasn't quite as skinny as he was, but she was nowhere near being bulky in any way. She had an athletic physique with well defined muscles and a good, even stance. She had an ideal body for the type of skills she wanted to learn from him.

"I spent two years in solitary confinement honing my skills so I could get revenge on the guy who killed Arianna" Aerrow told her "and now that I'm on the ground I use them to make sure that no-one close to me can ever get hurt again"

Sara nodded "I want to do that, too. I want to be a better person, and I feel that being able to protect people I love is the way I can do that." Aerrow looked at her. This girl, Sara, possessed a level of determination and resolve that he had only seen in one other person: himself

He began by showing her some basic defensive moves, how to avoid or deflect an attacker rather than face them front on. He got her to practise the moves and once she felt confident, he started making slow attacking moves on her, which she blocked just as slowly, exactly as he had instructed.

Soon, he started to up the pace, and Sara began having to work harder and harder. She kept up for longer than he was expecting. She had an intense look of determination and concentration on her face. She had two distinct sides of her personality. One was her happy, bubbly, usual self. The other was this serious, focussed individual who wanted only to succeed in learning to fight and survive. Aerrow realised that these were the same two light and dark parts of his life, before and after Dylan Joyce. Except they were being represented at the same time in one person, who was able to balance them much better than he had ever done. Aerrow found himself admiring her even more.

Soon, Aerrow's moves became too fast for her to block and she was sent to the ground, breathing hard. She was straight back up on her feet though, eager to keep going and keep improving.

Aerrow then showed her some attacking moves, and some sequences for them, and got her to attack him. She was un-coordinated at first but soon got the hang of it. she continually upped her pace and soon began to show some of the fluidity in her attacks that made Aerrow such a formidable fighter. Although he still wasn't trying, Aerrow found himself having to concentrate a little bit harder as she got better.

As the afternoon wore on, they progressed to other skills and styles of fighting. Aerrow got Sara to practise knife fighting and throwing, as well as bo-staff fighting and parcour. Aerrow grinned when she finally built up the courage to jump off the waterfall for the first time.

They also did some strength training. Aerrow knew that how big his muscles were was irrelevant, it was how well he could use them. That was why, although his muscles weren't massive, they were seriously toned and seriously effective. Sara couldn't do most of the things Aerrow could, such as one armed chin-ups and front lever holds (hanging from his arms with his body held horizontal). However, she could do everything he asked her to and more. He got her to mostly core strength exercise, because he knew that, as a fighter, that was where the real power came from. Looking at her doing all the things he set, he saw that she was easily the strongest girl he had ever met, both mentally and physically. If she failed at something, she tried again immediately afterwards, her determination to succeed never faltering.

Aerrow wrapped things up as the sky began to darken. The two of them sat together on the rock on the top of the waterfall, watching the sun slowly set, marvelling at the wondrous pink, yellow and red tinges of colour that streaked across the evening sky.

Aerrow looked down at her. She was gazing off into the distance, a sad expression on her face. Aerrow had a fairly good idea of what it was she was thinking about.

"you miss her, don't you?" he asked softly.

Sara nodded her head.

"So do I" he said.

Sara sniffed back a tear. Aerrow didn't know why, but he leant down and kissed her.

It was only brief but it had a profound and significant effect on both of them. In that instant, their fears, their pain and their worries were forgotten. They were so similar. Both knew how painful it was to lose someone they loved, and both had vowed to never let that happened again.

They both started chuckling, realising what they had just done. Although she had only turned 16 a few days before being sent to the ground, Sara was old enough to know that nothing could ever happen between them, not while he was with Clarke at least. Still, she appreciated his company, the comfort that he gave her in knowing that she was not alone in her pain.

After the sun set, they headed back up to the camp, Aerrow getting her to practise moving silently through the forest.

They arrived back in the camp to discover a massive bustle of activity. Every member of the 100 was working together to erect some sort of launcher.

Aerrow left Sara and asked Raven what was going on. She told him that if they didn't signal to the Ark that they were alive, 300 people were going to be killed to save oxygen.

Aerrow saw Bellamy, observing the entire operation. Aerrow walked up behind him.

"Sorry" was all he said. Bellamy turned around to face him but Aerrow was already walking off to help set up two more launchers.

Around 20 minutes later, the launchers were set up and the crowd gathered around them, waiting for the signal flares to be fired.

Aerrow scanned the crowd, trying to find Clarke. He had said some pretty hurtful things that day and he needed to make them right. It was why he had apologised to Bellamy.

He found her near the front, gazing at Finn and Raven who were standing arm in arm, wishing that she could experience the same level of love and compassion as they did.

"hey" Aerrow said softly, coming up beside her "I'm sorry"

Clarke didn't even turn around to face him "for what?" she said sourly "not helping us find the radio, or for letting me stop you from committing suicide

"for pushing you away" he replied instantly. Now Clarke turned to face him. She was still not fully convinced however that he was being honest, which Aerrow picked up on straight away. He had never been good at revealing his emotions even before he was tortured, but he was willing to give it a go to try and make up with Clarke.

"the thing is Clarke, it's been so long since I've been with someone who I care about as much as I care about you, and I've gotten so used to being alone in solitary confinement where I didn't have to worry about those sorts of emotions. I thought I could keep you safe by pushing you away, but with some help" he said, glancing at Sara who had come over to join them "I realised that you can have something to fight for or not. It's much better to have something to fight for. You"

As the first flares fired, lighting up the night sky with a brilliant shade of red, Clarke took Aerrow's hand in hers and Aerrow put his arm around Sara, not in an intimate way, in a friendly way, one that simply brought two people together, and the three of them watched the flares disappear off into the night.


	13. Chapter 13

**This story is starting to take on a specific pattern. There is a big action chapter followed by several drama related ones. The next few chapters will be purely action as Aerrow has to face off against the grounders and really put his skills to the test for the first time. I should have said this earlier, but any mistakes in the story are mine. I draft the chapters and edit them on my own, I have no one else to read my work so your feedback is much appreciated, like what I could improve or where I could go with some of the characters. Bear in mind I'm also trying to stick as close as possible to what happens in the actual show, but occasionally I alter the characters' dialogue to suit this particular story.**

While the rest of the 100 had gone to bed after the last of the flares were released, Aerrow had stayed up by the warmth of the fire, silently thinking to himself while carving a piece of wood into a staff for Sara to practise with.

He saw Bellamy exit his tent. He spotted Aerrow and immediately walked up to him.

"have you seen Octavia?" he asked

"no, why?"

"Because she's been missing for the last 12 hours or so"

"have you checked the camp, are you sure-"

"yes, I've checked everywhere. Look, you get Clarke and I'll get the others" Bellamy stated before walking off.

Aerrow lingered momentarily, looking at Bellamy. The guy was an asshole but he did care deeply about his sister. After all, he was possibly the human alive to have one.

Aerrow walked over to Clarke's tent, to find her wide awake and sitting up already. She hadn't been able to get to sleep knowing that 300 people might have been killed if their flares hadn't worked. Aerrow told her what was going on and they decided to search the camp one last time.

Bellamy had already woken everybody up and so searching the camp wasn't a problem. They had just finished searching other tents when Bellamy walked into the clearing carrying a sack full of weapons made from various bits of the drop ship.

"hey everyone. Gather round and grab a weapon" he ordered "my sister's been out there alone for 12 hours. Arm up. We're not coming back without her"

One by one, members of the 100 came forward and picked up the weapons, including Jasper, who, when told by Clarke he didn't have to go off searching for her, replied that he did. Aerrow put his own weapons on his belt. Sara had a knife of her own and now the staff Aerrow had carved for her. He wasn't comfortable with her coming along, but saw that she wanted to and he wasn't going to stop her.

"we'll need a tracker" Bellamy declared "Finn, get out here!"

"Aerrow can track" Sara piped up

Out of Aerrow's earshot, Bellamy leaned down next to her and said "yeah, but if the grounders show up we're going to need him for something else"

Sara understood what he meant instantly. She was a little frightened by the prospect of her new friend going up against the grounders on his own, but at the same time she was hoping he did so he could showcase the full extent of his skills.

Finn came out of his tent just as another member of the 100 exclaimed something and pointed up at the sky at what looked to be a massive meteor shower.

"they didn't work" Raven said, her voice tinged with despair "they didn't see the flares"

"a meteor shower tells you that?" Bellamy asked her

Aerrow knew what she meant "It's not a meteor shower" he said grimly "it's a funeral"

"hundreds of bodies being returned to the earth. This is what it looks like from the other side" Clarke joined in.

Raven tried to advance towards Bellamy, saying that it was his fault for stealing the radio and trashing it. Aerrow and Finn had to hold her back.

"yeah, he knows it's his fault" Clarke said, staring angrily at Bellamy "now he has to live with it"

Bellamy made to say something but Aerrow cut him off. "guys" he said, raising his voice "Octavia is still out there. No-one else has to die tonight"

With that, a group of 12 or so people including Aerrow, Finn, Bellamy, Jasper and Sara headed out of the camp, leaving Clarke and Raven behind to try and figure out some other way to contact the Ark.

About 30 minutes later, a member of the search party spotted a strap caught in a bush halfway down an extremely steep slope. He summoned the rest of the group over.

"rope!" Bellamy called out

"don't bother" Aerrow said before leaping off the top and scree running down the slope, coming to a perfect stop right next to the bush. Gasps of astonishment went up amongst the group at the demonstration of yet another one of Aerrow's skills. He had done that for a reason. For so long he had hidden himself away but now he felt free, and wanted to make the most of it too. Finn smiled shook his head. Sara grinned.

Bellamy tossed the rope over the edge before lowering himself down it. He arrived next to Aerrow and examined the strap. He recognised it instantly. He called out to the group that it belonged to Octavia before lowering himself to the bottom of the slope. He was soon joined by Aerrow, Finn and Jasper.

Aerrow crouched down and touched some blood splattered on a rock.

"Bloods still fresh" he said "its recent"

"someone else was here" Bellamy stated

Finn noticed some heavy set footprints in the soft soil "prints are deeper doing that way" he said "he was carrying her"

"If they took her then she's alive" Jasper joined in "like when they took me"

With no time to lose, the rest of the search party quickly lowered themselves down the rope and then they set off after the footprints.

A few kilometres later, they came to a clearing and were stopped instantly in their tracks. Dozens of semi-decomposed bodies hung suspended from trees. Sara had to turn away. She swallowed the vomit that welled up in her throat at the gruesome sight.

"I don't speak grounder" Finn said, his voice full of fear "but I'm pretty sure this means keep out"

Whispers of "lets get out of here" went up through the crowd. They did not want to become the next body hung up and left to rot. "Go back if you want" Bellamy declared "my sister, my responsibility". With that, he set off again. The others reluctantly followed him.

"I'd walk into hell to find her" Jasper said boldly. "I think we just did" Finn replied.

Aerrow drew his knife. He held it back handed in the military style he had read about on the Ark, his every sense on high alert in case of an ambush.

Dawn broke. The warm rays of sunlight offered a little more comfort than the black of the night. At least now they could see what was around them for more than a few metres.

The group was more spread out now. Aerrow was near the back, with only one other kid behind him.

Suddenly, Aerrow felt a whoosh of air on his neck. Instantly, he drew his staff, expanded it and swung hard at whatever was behind him, only to find nothing there. The kid behind him was gone.

"hey, where's John" asked Roma, the only other girl in the group.

Everyone started looking around, when suddenly, a lifeless body dropped from the trees. It was John, the kid who had been behind Aerrow. He throat had been slit.

Instantly, Aerrow jumped and swung himself into the tree John had been dropped from. With brutal efficiency, he moved through every branch, searching for any sign of the grounders, but found only a few broken twigs. Whoever these grounders were, they were good, Aerrow thought as he dropped back down out of the tree.

Everyone bunched up, facing outwards, trying to locate the grounders. Roma pleaded to Bellamy to let them go back.

"there, right there" Jasper whispered, pointing at a grounder standing about 50 metres away from them.

"another one" someone else said, spotting a second grounder running through the bushes.

Aerrow spied two more, sneaking up on them behind. They were trying to flank them. Suddenly, Aerrow knew what he had to do.

"run" he said simply

"what?" Finn said

"run" Aerrow repeated "I'll hold them off

"no, you can't" Sara pleaded to him, grabbing his arm "it's four against one, you can't win. I can't lose you"

"don't worry about me Sara. I've been waiting for two years to do something like this" he said, winking at her, before expanding his staff and turning around to face the approaching grounders

"now run!" he shouted. Bellamy nodded at Aerrow, before turning and running along with the others back in the direction of the camp.

Aerrow watched them go, and deep down he wondered if he would ever see them again. He didn't have time to evaluate this thought however, because it was at that moment the grounders launched their attack.


	14. Chapter 14

**I really enjoyed writing these next few chapters. The storyline really flowed together and fitted beautifully into what happens in the actual show. It also really showcases Aerrow's true character, and I really enjoyed exploring that. As always, I hope you enjoy where the story is going and any feed back, positive or negative is much appreciated.**

One came jumping out of the bushes to his side. Aerrow saw the man out of the corner of his eye. He pivoted instantly, parrying the grounder away with his staff.

He then jumped off a tree and over the head of another, rolling on the ground before throwing his knife into the throat of the third grounder, who went down at his feet. Aerrow stood again but ducked instantly, barely avoiding the spear thrown by the forth.

Working as a single unit, the grounders went on the offensive, co-ordinating their attacks with pin-point timing and precision. It was all Aerrow could do to hold them off.

But hold them off he did. Using every single skill he had acquired over the past two years, he evaded the grounders' every attack. His staff was just a blur as he span, pivoted, twisted, blocked and swung at the three grounders.

Aerrow was actually the better fighter, but the grounders had numbers on their side, and started getting more and more hits in. Realising that he would likely lose the fight if he didn't do something soon, Aerrow sprinted at a tree and jumped up and grabbed a branch. Using his momentum, he swung all the way over the branch, coming back around on the other side and kicking the pursuing grounder in the back of his head with both feet, knocking him out.

It was now a slightly more fair fight, two verses one. But not for long as Aerrow kicked one in the groin and smashed his head with his staff with enough force to split the man's skull open. The grounder slumped to the ground.

Aerrow stood up and looked around for the remaining grounder, who was nowhere to be seen. Aerrow knew he was out there though. Watching, waiting, prowling.

Suddenly, a black mask filled Aerrow's vision as the final grounder jumped down from a tree, grabbing Aerrow and yanking him back up into the tree.

The grounder held Aerrow close with incredible strength, drawing a knife to slit the teenager's throat. With equal strength, Aerrow grabbed the man's arm and twisted it, causing the man to drop the knife and allowing Aerrow to break the hold the same time. It was now hand to hand combat. In the trees.

Aerrow did the best he could to block the man's punches, kicks and jabs, but the grounder was fighting in a completely different style to any Aerrow had studied on the Ark. He knew he needed to go on the offensive to win back control of the fight.

He swung himself around the trunk of the tree, kicking the grounder hard in the stomach. The grounder however, showed no signs of pain and continued advancing towards Aerrow.

And then Aerrow did what the grounder had been waiting for him to do. He mis-stepped, losing his balance. Instantly, the grounder grabbed Aerrow's arm. Aerrow grabbed back and flipped them both out of the tree, landing hard on the ground below.

Aerrow and the grounder stood as one, before re-engaging. Now that he was back on the ground, Aerrow found himself able to counter the grounder's attacks much more easily. They were so closely matched that neither of them had the upper hand for more than a moment at a time.

The grounder tripped Aerrow over, just as Aerrow lashed out with a blow to the temple of the grounder, and both fell to the ground.

The grounder was back on Aerrow in an instant, but Aerrow kicked him clear, giving him enough time to retrieve his staff. The grounder meanwhile gathered up his spear and the two resumed the fight. This time with their primary weapons.

Aerrow and the grounder. Two warriors of equal and awesome skill. Locked in a fight to the death with one another. The air was filled with grunts and whooshes as the two swung, parried and blocked each other's attacks. See, decide, act, react all blurred into one fluid motion as Aerrow found himself going beyond the level he thought was possible.

Suddenly, time seemed to slow and Aerrow found himself able to predict what the grounder was going to do. He could sense the glint in the grounders eyes, planning what he was going to do next. He could see the minute changes in the grounder's stance as he prepared another attack. Aerrow realised that this was what he had spent two years in solitary confinement forging himself into a human weapon to do: to use his skills to protect the people he cared about. Here, now, in this clearing, in a fight to the death with the grounder, Aerrow felt truly free.

Aerrow caught the grounder's next attack with his staff. He held the grounders spear in front of him with all his strength, bringing the fight to a stalemate.

Sometime during the fight, the grounder's facemask had been dislodged, revealing a heavily tanned face with angular black tattoos on the man's chin and forehead.

Staring past the grounder, Aerrow saw Sara standing in the distance, observing the fight. She had a look of horror on her face.

Sensing his opponent's slight distraction, the grounder made his move. Before Aerrow could react, the grounder broke the staff/spear hold, and swung Aerrow around, pressing the teenager's back to his chest. Aerrow attempted to break the hold, but the grounder was too strong.

The grounder then drew a small dagger, dripping with some kind of liquid and stabbed it into Aerrow's side, drawing a grunt from him. Aerrow renewed his struggle to break free, but suddenly felt his strength fading away, and he began to feel very sleepy.

Aerrow slumped to the ground. He fought to keep his eyes open. He knew that if he blacked out it would be all over. The grounder would slay him where he lay. His training however, did nothing to slow the effect of the liquid now coursing through his body, and Aerrow lapsed into unconsciousness, completely at the mercy of the grounder standing over him.


	15. Chapter 15

**For the next few chapters I introduce a divergent storyline, which will probably only be for the episode. I did this to express what Clarke and the others are going through as well as Aerrow because it really fits in with how I've written the chapters, because I draw comparisons between Aerrow and the captured grounder.**

Clarke stood at the entrance to the drop ship, staring out at the raging storm outside. Tears streaked down her bloody and exhausted face.

_It had been three hours since the search party returned, shouting for her. She had raced over as quickly as she could, to find only about half of the original group had survived. Bellamy was carrying an unconscious Finn, who had blood dripping from a knife in his side. Clarke didn't know what to do. She needed her mother. Raven was trying to fashion a makeshift radio out of a transmitter she and Clarke had found, so they could talk to the Ark and save Finn's life_

_It was only after she had lain Finn down on the bottom floor on the drop ship and made sure the bleeding had stopped that Clarke realised that Aerrow had not been amongst those who had returned. She went over to Sara, who was sitting in the corner, her head buried in her arms. Clarke asked the younger blonde where Aerrow was. When Sara couldn't give her an answer, she knew something terrible had happened._

_She then went and asked Jasper, who said Aerrow had taken on a group of grounders by himself, giving the rest of the group enough time to escape and find Octavia, and that Sara had told them later that she saw the grounders take Aerrow away. Clarke couldn't hold on any longer. She burst into tears at the thought that, with Finn unconscious and dying and Aerrow captured by the grounders and being forced to endure god-knows-what, she might lose not just one, but two of the people she cared the most about._

Clarke turned away and walked back into the drop ship to check on Raven, who had finished building the radio and was now desperately trying to get into contact with the Ark. She was starting to give up hope but Clarke re-assured her that she could do it, and she renewed her attempts.

Suddenly, the static that had been washing over the signal ceased, and they heard the voice of a technician on the Ark. Clarke immediately demanded that she be put in contact with her mother, Abby, so she could talk her through removing the knife from Finn's body.

Without warning, the signal cut out as thunder boomed overhead. The storm was getting worse. Clarke ordered the doors to the drop ship to be closed. Just as they were about to be shut, a rain-soaked Bellamy walked in, followed by two of his minion who were dragging an unconscious grounder behind them. it was the same grounder who had kidnapped Octavia and who had stabbed Finn.

"It's time to get some answers" Bellamy stated coldly "get him upstairs"

With the help of his minions, Bellamy dragged the grounder up to the top level of the drop ship and tied him up, not knowing that far away, the same thing was being done to one of his own people

A booming thunderclap woke Aerrow up. Panting, he looked around him to see where he was.

He was in a huge cave, easily 30 metres from side to side. He was also alone. He had been stripped of his weapons and his shirt, leaving him bare chested. His hands were held out to the sides of his body, tied to the roof of the cave and his feet were fastened to the floor. Aerrow tested the bonds, but they were not going to come undone any time soon.

Aerrow looked up just as a grounder walked into the cave, followed by two others. The lead grounder, the same one Aerrow had fought, stared at Aerrow, his expression hard, his eyes emotionless. Aerrow returned the stare, not showing any signs of weakness.

The lead grounder noticed Aerrow's scars, visible to the world. He advanced towards Aerrow and slowly ran his hand along the biggest one, stretching across Aerrow's chest, feeling the rough, raised skin.

The grounder then lowered his hand to his belt, and drew a small, two inch dagger. He then ran the blade along Aerrow's forearm, drawing blood. Have long before discovered what pain really was, Aerrow didn't even flinch as the grounder opened up an identical cut on his other forearm. The grounder seemed impressed at Aerrow's resistance to pain.

The grounder muttered something to the other two in a language that Aerrow couldn't understand, before walking over to a nearby table. The grounder dipped the blade of his dagger in some clear, syrupy liquid that Aerrow recognised from a book on the Ark as snake venom.

Wordlessly, the grounder strode back up to Aerrow and stabbed the venom laced dagger directly into the centre of his chest. Aerrow grunted as he felt the blade penetrate his skin and the venom drip into his bloodstream.

The grounder withdrew his dagger and stepped back, keeping his eyes locked on Aerrow's, as if he was anticipating what would happen next.

He didn't have to wait long as Aerrow arched his back and screamed as the venom started taking its deadly effect on his body and the true pain set in

Back on the drop ship, Bellamy was getting ready to inflict a little torture of his own on the captive grounder. Clarke had discovered that the knife Finn had been stabbed with was laced with poison, and she needed the grounder to tell her what the antidote was. The grounder had resisted their every attempt to get him to talk so far, so Bellamy decided to take matters into his own hands.

He advanced towards the grounder, his eyes full of evil intent. Octavia tried to hold him back, saying the grounder had saved her life. Bellamy countered, saying that this was about saving Finn's and Aerrow's lives.

Desperate, Octavia turned to Clarke, reminding her of what she had said earlier, that the 100 were not murderers. Clarke stared at the grounder, hanging there, beaten and shirtless. Whoever he was, he was very nearly as toned as Aerrow, with slightly bigger muscles. He bore scars on his back and side, which reminded Clarke even more of Aerrow and how she had to find him.

"do it" she told Bellamy

Bellamy cut a seatbelt strap and buckle from one of the seats. He whipped the grounder over and over again with it. the grounder grunted and groaned with every blow, but would still not tell them the antidote, or where Aerrow was.

"Enough" someone eventually shouted.

The six other people in the room turned to look at the seventh, a small, blonde haired girl about the age of 16.

Sara walked slowly and menacingly up to the grounder. She held a blunt, cylindrical piece of metal in her hand.

"where's my friend?" she demanded, in a tone so dark and evil no-one could believe it was possible for someone her age to be able to speak like that.

The grounder still said nothing. Sara narrowed her eyes into a look of pure hatred, before stepping back and driving the piece of metal right the way through the grounder's hand. He screamed.

White light filled Aerrow's vision as the pain continued the rip through his body. He thought he had experienced true pain at the hands of Dylan Joyce. He was wrong. What Dylan did to him had nothing on this. It was so intense that it felt like the venom was shredding his very soul to pieces. After just 30 seconds he lost his voice from screaming so hard. His muscles bulged as he fought against his bonds, the veins looking like they were about to burst out of his arms.

After what felt like an eternity, Aerrow felt his breathing slow and his heart stop beating as a dark, black void filled his mind.

Aerrow found himself standing in a clearing. There was nothing around him, only grass, stretching as far as the eye could see. Suddenly, he was surrounded by people. On one side of him he saw Arianna, and on his other side he saw Clarke and Sara. They were all smiling at him and held their hands out towards him. Aerrow realised the he was on the boundary of death, caught in those last few moments while life still lingered. Somehow, he knew that if he joined Arianna, his past, he would die, and that if he joined Clarke and Sara, his present and future, he might not. He thought of Clarke and Sara, and what would happen to them if they lost him forever. Suddenly, he realised what he had to do. He was not going to die. He was a fighter. He had never backed down from a fight before, and he wasn't going to back down from this either.

He narrowed his eyes into a glare full of determination. He had something to fight for, and in order to fight, he had to live.


	16. Chapter 16

**I wrote this chapter and the one after it the way I did because I really like how Aerrow interacts with the grounders. His character is a lot like them and that is explored further in this chapter. What the grounders to do Aerrow in my opinion is pretty cool, and I do introduce more aspects from 'Arrow' into this story in this chapter, mainly by having the grounders teach Aerrow how to shoot a bow and arrow.**

Aerrow opened his eyes and gulped in oxygen. It felt like liquid being poured down his throat as he took huge, glorious breaths. Life had returned.

As soon as he had gotten enough strength back, Aerrow lifted his head and glared at the grounder. The grounder's eyes had widened slightly, and he looked amazed. He couldn't believe Aerrow had survived. In an ancient ritual, each grounder had to be injected with a single drop of venom and endure the pain to earn their mask and join the elite hunting group of the grounders. Aerrow though had been injected with many times more venom that that and had somehow managed to survive.

The lead grounder, who Aerrow assumed must be their equivalent of a chief, gestured for the other two to leave the cave, which they did, leaving Aerrow along with the lead grounder.

He walked over to the fire that was in the cave and pulled from it a long, thin blade of metal not unlike a sword. He walked back over to Aerrow and pressed the red hot blade against the skin on the insides of Aerrow's arms, searing the skin, leaving deep burns. Strangely, Aerrow didn't feel anything. It was as if the venom had somehow made him completely immune to pain, momentarily at least.

The grounder then did the same on either side of the stab wound on the teenager's chest, pressing it first across the top and then down either side of the centre of his chest and repeated the process of his back.

The grounder then smeared black ink over the burns. They seared the ink permanently into Aerrow's skin, leaving him with angular black tattoos almost identical to theirs.

Once the ink had dried, the grounder cut Aerrow down from his bonds and lead him over to a wooden box that was resting on the table. The grounder opened the box to reveal three things. Aerrow instantly saw his knife and his staff. It was the third thing that captured his attention though.

It was a perfectly shaped, exquisitely crafted white and brown recurve bow. It was just over a metre in length and it was the most beautifully shaped thing Aerrow had ever seen, with not one single imperfection in the grip or the curving, swept back arms. It appeared to be made out of a composite of deer antler and muscle sinew, giving the arms of the bow both compressibility and flexibility as well as lightness. The drawstring was made out of a thin and tightly coiled vine. Aerrow tested it and instantly knew that his knife would never be able to cut it. These grounders sure knew how to make a good weapon.

The grounder motioned to Aerrow to pick the bow up, with he did. Somehow it suited him perfectly. The length, weighting, handgrip, drawstring and draw weight were all absolutely ideal. The grounder also gave Aerrow a quiver full of primitive but ultra sharp arrows, and showed Aerrow a small target carved in the wall of the cave about 30 metres away from him. As Aerrow took aim for the first time, he thought back to when he'd first started down the path of becoming what he was today.

_Day after day, week after week, month after month Aerrow trained. He cared about nothing else. He wasn't sleeping. He was barely eating. His entire life was consumed by forging himself into a weapon so he could take his revenge on Dylan. Learning from the books and videos he had taken from his old room, he started honing his growing skill set. He would practise for hours on end, doing all manner of exotic and deadly fighting styles, from bo-staff fighting to knife fighting, many different forms of martial arts and even parcour, slowly building up his skills._

_As he improved his growing skill set, he also noticed he was building up muscle mass and muscle tone. He had an overhanging bar that he did chin-ups, mantle's and front lever holds off of. He used the walls for handstand push up's and he used the floor for all kinds of core strength work._

_2 years after being put into solitary confinement, Aerrow was a shadow of his former self. He had grown his previously short cut hair out to near shoulder length and his once happy face was set in a permanent neutral expression. He was skinnier, but way, way more toned. He had taught himself how to ignore the effects of pain, both physical and mental pain and he had mastered every single skill he had taken upon himself to learn. _

_He could fight hand to hand for hours on end, he could throw his knife across his ten foot wide cell with perfect accuracy, without even needing to aim and the walls of his cells were covered in small dents, inflicted by his lightwiehgt but extremely strong bo-staff._

_Finally, the day came when he was going to get floated, the day he could finally take his revenge. He had a plan mapped out perfectly in his head. He didn't care if he died that day, as long as Dylan died too. But then he was put on the drop ship with 100 other criminals and not the grey room and his whole life changed forever_

On the drop ship, the grounder was shaking from the pain of the piece of metal Sara stabbed through his hand.

Raven came up the ladder and onto the top floor, announcing that Finn had momentarily stopped breathing, to which Clarke replied that the grounder wasn't going to tell them anything.

Raven glared at the grounder for a few moments, before walking over and disconnecting two of the power cables. "wanna bet?" she stated more then asked as she held the power cables to the grounder's bare skin, exposing him to electricity for the first time. The grounder screamed and the electricity coursed through his body. The pain reminded him of the drop of snake venom he had had to take to become a hunter. He hadn't said anything then and he wasn't going to say anything now.

"NO MORE!" Octavia screamed. Raven stopped and the grounder slumped against his bonds.

"He's letting Finn die!" Raven screamed back

Octavia held the grounders poison laced knife in her hands. "he won't let me die" she stated, before slitting her arm open with the knife, poisoning herself.

She fell to her hands and knees at the grounder's feet. She pointed to the various bottles of liquid from the grounder's kit from that were on the ground, asking, no begging him to tell her the antidote. Eventually, on the third ampule, the grounder nodded.

Octavia immediately handed to antidote to Clarke and Raven, who raced back down the ladder to give it to Finn. Octavia remained at the grounder's feet, staring up into his eyes. He stared back at her, a sad expression on his face.


	17. Chapter 17

Of all the things Aerrow had learnt in his two years in solitary confinement, archery was never one of them. He found it surprisingly easy to get the hang of. He had the strength, patience and discipline after all. The grounder had shown him the proper technique, but while he hit the target every time, he couldn't hit it in the centre, which was what the grounder wanted him to do.

In between shooting practise, the grounder also taught Aerrow how to fight with the bow, how to catch arrows in mid-air and how to run and jump over things without being affected by its presence. Aerrow mastered those aspects fairly quickly. He didn't mind fighting with the bow, but he still much preferred his staff. He was more used to it and it allowed him more freedom, allowing him to fight to the best of his ability in his particular style. He still couldn't hit the centre of the target however.

Again he shot, and again he missed. The grounder stood over Aerrow and held his knife to the teenager's throat, implying that if he didn't hit the centre soon, he was going to wish he had died from the venom. Aerrow wasn't scared, but he still desperately wanted to succeed.

Aerrow had one arrow left in his quiver. He seamlessly grabbed it and loaded it onto the drawstring just as the grounder had taught him. He took aim and was about to fire when he was out of the corner of his eye a knife come flying at him.

Aerrow ducked and turned to face the charging grounder. The man ploughed into Aerrow, causing him to drop his bow and drove him back against the wall of the cave.

Aerrow caught the man's fist and elbowed his stomach, before kicking his feet out from under him, sending the man to the ground.

The grounder was back up in an instant, and kicked Aerrow brutally in the stomach, causing Aerrow to keel over, winded.

The grounder had the advantage now. He pummelled Aerrow with a flurry of fists, jabs and kicks. Aerrow buckled under the assault.

As he feel to his hands and knees, Aerrow remembered what he had told Sara on the day he started training her. "you can have all the strength and skill in the world" he told her "but they count for nothing if you can't control them. The most important thing for a fighter is to have control of your body and your mind. You have those two things and you are unbeatable"

Aerrow fought back before the grounder could react. He spun around on his heel, tripping the grounder over, before getting to his feet and racing over to the only weapon in his vicinity: his bow

The grounder stood up just as Aerrow notched the final arrow. He spun around and drew the string at the same time, taking no time to aim before releasing. The grounder ducked and the arrow flew over his head, impacting with the wall instead. Directly in the centre of the target.

The grounder looked at the arrow imbedded in the centre of the target, before turning back to face Aerrow. Aerrow smiled. He knew why he had hit the target that time. He had been in complete control of himself the entire time. He had acted on instinct only and had controlled his every action. Somehow the grounder had managed to teach him the one thing he had never been able to teach himself: how to control his body and mind.

The grounder handed Aerrow a necklace and gestured for him to leave the cave. It was made of the same coiled vine as the drawstring of his bow. It had a small carved snake hanging off of it, poised and ready to strike, just like Aerrow. Aerrow took it and solemnly put it around his neck. He then gathered up his other weapons and put them back on his belt before walking out of the cave.

Aerrow turned to look at his new mentor one last time. He nodded slowly at the man before turning and walking, shirtless and with his new bow in his hand, back towards the camp.

Clarke sat alone on the lower floor of the drop ship, next to Finn, who was still unconscious, praying that he would be alright. Praying that both he and Aerrow would be alright.

She couldn't stop herself bursting into tears again.

"I can't do this without you" she sobbed, placing her head on Finn's chest. She was speaking to both of them.

Suddenly, Abby's voice came over the radio, asking how Finn was doing. Clarke replied that she thought he would be ok.

Abby told her that she was proud of her and that her father would be too.

Anger surged up through Clarke. "don't talk about him" she stated, getting to her feet.

Abby didn't understand

"Dad's dead because of you" Clarke said, her voice breaking "you turned him in, I know it. Well's told me everything before he-"

Clarke cut herself off, wiping the tears from her eyes "he let me believe he did it, so I'd hate him instead of you"

Abby tried to explain but Clarke was having none of it. "I'm done talking to you!" she shouted, switching the radio off.

She walked over and sat back down next to Finn. She wanted more than anything for Aerrow to be there with her, to be there for her and provide a shoulder for her to cry on. She was so caught up in her longing and grief than she didn't even hear the door to the drop ship open and close quietly as someone walked in.

"hey" someone said behind her. "are you ok?"

Clarke recognised the voice instantly. She practically jumped to her feet and turned around to see Aerrow standing before her. He was shirtless, holding a recurve bow and a quiver full of arrows in his hand. He wore a necklace with a small carved snake on it and he now had angular black tattoos on his arms, chest and back, not unlike the ones on the grounder on the upper level. Clarke didn't notice them though.

She raced over to him and wrapped her arms around him. "I thought I'd lost you" she cried into his shoulder

"Clarke, listen to me" he said, tilting her head up so she was looking at his eyes "I will never leave you"

With that, Clarke kissed him, hard and passionately, re-establishing her connection with him. Eventually, they pulled away and just stood there, arms around each other with their foreheads pressed together.

Clarke tried to pull him closer only for him to wince as her abrasive shirt came into contact with the burns on his chest. For the first time Clarke actually noticed his tattoo's and his cool new bow.

"what happened to you out there" she stammered, not sure if she really wanted an answer

Aerrow grinned. "well" he said "I became a grounder"


	18. Chapter 18

**Much like the Clarke/Aerrow chapter earlier on, this next chapter is not very long and designed only to demonstrate a relationship between Aerrow and another person. Instead of Clarke, this time it is Sara. Nothing actually happens between them but there is a close, personal interaction. I put this chapter in because I absolutely adored the Oliver/Sara relationship in 'Arrow' and since I borrowed aspects of those characters for this fanfic, I also took aspects of their relationship. What happens in this chapter also sets in motion some future events which I am currently drafting up.**

As it was still night time and his shelter had been destroyed by the storm, Aerrow found himself lying down and relaxing on the flat and surprisingly comfortable roof of the drop ship, staring up at the sky. The storm that had been raging for the previous 6 hours had eased, and the star-crossed night sky was clear once again.

He was alone. Clarke was down on the lower floor with Finn, who still hadn't woken up. She wanted to make sure he didn't suffer any more effects from his stab wound or the poison.

Aerrow stared at his new bow that he held in his hands, thoughtlessly alternating between flipping it over and rotating it in his hand, so he could examine every detail of it. He was absolutely fascinated by it, by what it represented and by the possibilities it brought him, what he had already done and what he might eventually be able to do with it.

He continued to fondle the bow as he thought about what he had said to Clarke and if it was true, that he had indeed become a grounder. After all, they had given him tattoos just like theirs, along with the necklace and the bow. But why? Especially after he had killed three of them, why they should them make him one of them was a mystery. What was so special about him that could cause them to do that?

Aerrow's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of feet clanging against the outer wall, the unmistakeable sound of someone climbing up to join him.

Aerrow put the bow down as someone poked their head over the top. In the darkness, he couldn't make out who it was. The figure climbed onto the roof, before walking over and sitting down next to him. Aerrow finally recognised who it was.

It was Sara.

"I saw him stab you, and drag you away. I thought they had killed you" she said, her voice barely louder than a whisper"

"Believe me, they tried" Aerrow said.

He showed her his new tattoo's and the severe burns underneath them.

"how did you survive this?" she was almost scared to ask

"I wanted to die. I think I actually did. They injected me with some sort of snake venom. The pain was so intense that I think I did die for a little while. In the end though, I thought of you and Clarke, and what would happen to you two if you lost me forever, and I wasn't going to put you though that. So I chose to live, for both of you"

Sara was close to tears. She was still shaken up from the events of rescuing Octavia and torturing the grounder, and she wanted to feel safe again.

"Clarke told me you were up here. Is, is it alright if I stay up here with you?" she asked him tentatively

Aerrow looked at her and saw that, as strong as she was, she was still a young girl in a very big and dangerous world who just needed a little bit of security every once in a while. "sure" he said.

Sara threw her arms around him, happy to have her friend back. He was like an older brother to her, and she loved him. She loved him so deeply that just the thought of losing him was too much for her to bare.

They laid back down on the roof of the drop ship together, and continued staring up at the stars, Aerrow pointing out the different constellations to her.

As the night drew on, Sara curled herself towards him and rested her head against his bare chest, finding comfort on the rhythmic rise and fall of his breathing and soon fell asleep.

Aerrow put his arm around her and sighed. He had gone through a lot over the past few days, but he realised now that it had made him a better person. He was no longer that pained, lonely kid whose only goal was to get revenge on the person who took everything away from him. With the help of Clarke, Sara and now the grounder, he had become something more. He had become someone that people respected, admired, and looked to for protection.

He kissed the back of Sara's head, before closing his eyes and joining her in sleep.


	19. Chapter 19

**I put this chapter in really as an interlude between episode 7 and 8. I do modify some of the dialogue and when it is spoken, such as the scenes between Bellamy and Clarke discussing the grounder, for the benefits of the story and to include Aerrow. I also introduce Aerrow to the captured grounder (Lincoln) for the first time, and after his experiences with the grounders in the cave, Aerrow reacts to seeing the grounder in an intricate way, and this is a real turning point in Aerrow's mindset and how he feels about various things to do with the grounders.**

Aerrow raced through the trees with his new recurve bow in hand and a quiver full of arrows on his back.

Seamlessly, Aerrow notched the arrows, took aim and fired them at the trees as he sprinted past them, honing his accuracy. Although they didn't hit the direct centre of the trees, the arrows still impacted and lodged themselves in the bark.

Aerrow was training. Hard.

His fight with the grounders had taught him something: That he was not yet good enough to defend the group should the grounders decide to attack. And now he was determined to push himself beyond what was physically possible in order change that.

As soon as he ran out of arrows, Aerrow put his bow down and went over to his padded tree, and began practising his martial arts moves, developing new and more effective attacks and sequences for them. He also incorporated into his fighting style some of the moves the grounder taught him. He could not fight purely in the grounders' style, if he did he would lose in a fight for sure, but blended with his own skills they gave him a little bit extra in his fighting ability.

It was midday by the time he finally stopped, breathing hard with sweat covering his body. He then spent a few hours rebuilding his shelter before putting on a close fitting black shirt that he had found on the drop ship as well as his jacket. His old grey shirt had been torn off him by the grounders and Aerrow still didn't want his markings to be seen by the members of the 100. No one else had wanted the shirt so he had taken it. Aerrow put his bow and arrows away in the wooden box the grounder had let him take from the cave and then returned to the main camp, where the other members were working hard to clean up the wreck that the camp was left in thanks to the storm the previous night.

Aerrow walked into the drop ship, looking for Clarke, who was still with Finn. When he checked this time though, Finn was awake and Clarke was nowhere to be seen. He asked Raven where she went and she said she didn't know. He walked back out of the drop ship, scanning the camp for Clarke.

He eventually found her standing near the wood pile, talking to Bellamy about something. She held a bloodstained piece of metal in her hands. The two were so involved in their conversation that they didn't even notice Aerrow come up to them.

Aerrow walked up just as Clarke said to Bellamy "what are we going to do with him? We can't keep him locked up forever"

"if we let him go, he'll be back, and not alone next time" Bellamy replied

"who's 'he'?" Aerrow spoke up

Both Clarke and Bellamy whirled around to face him, surprised that he had heard their conversation. Bellamy opened his mouth to tell Aerrow about the grounder, but was stopped by Clarke. She remembered what he had told her the previous night, about him becoming a grounder. She knew he was still allied to the 100, but couldn't help but wonder how he would react to finding a grounder being held captive in the drop ship.

Bellamy didn't understand why she had silenced him, but over time he had come to trust her judgement. "it's nothing, violet eyes, don't worry about it" he shrugged and walked off.

Aerrow turned to look at Clarke, who smiled innocently at him, before walking away as well. Aerrow stood still, his eyes narrowed with a mix of confusion and suspicion. His gaze settled on the drop ship. He could tell that they were keeping something from him, and by the way Clarke glanced at it, he figured whatever it was had to be on the drop ship.

Aerrow climbed up the ladder going up the centre of the drop ship. He noticed the hatch to the top floor was closed. Aerrow levered it open before climbing up onto the top floor.

He saw Bellamy's sister, Octavia, standing with her back to him in front of someone who appeared to be tied up in a very similar fashion to the way the grounders had tied Aerrow up. He stared momentarily at Octavia. He had never had anything to do with her, either on the Ark or on the ground. He had never even actually spoken to her.

"Octavia" he said. Octavia whirled around, rage in her eyes, expecting to see her brother. Instead, she saw another kid standing in front of her. He had near shoulder length hair and dark purple eyes. Octavia recognised him. He was the one who had saved Clarke's life and who had fought off the grounders who were trying to kill the people looking for her. What was his name? Aerrow?

As she turned around, she revealed the person she had been standing in front of. Aerrow immediately recognised him as a grounder from his muscular physique and angular black tattoos, and his face softened and his mouth dropped open slightly.

"who is he?" he eventually managed to ask Octavia

"he's the grounder who saved my life" she replied

"why is he here?"

"he stabbed Finn, so my asshole brother brought him back here, tied him up and tortured him"

Aerrow said nothing. He walked slowly and silently past Octavia until he was standing in front of the grounder. The grounder stared at him, his eyes not menacing but not trusting either as he realised that Aerrow was not going to try to harm him. Aerrow returned the stare.

Aerrow lowered his gaze and took note of the grounder's tattoos and scars, and suddenly had the sensation of staring at himself in a mirror. He didn't know why, but he pulled his shirt over his head, revealing his near identical tattoos and his own scars, which were even more numerous and severe. He knew but didn't care that Octavia was still in the room.

Octavia saw Aerrow take his shirt off, and suppressed a gasp. He was just like the grounder. Highly muscular, bearing tattoos and scars. It was obvious that Aerrow had got his tattoos very recently. Judging by the sharp, mean looking angles it was highly probable he had been given them by the grounders. His scars however were much older. He had not gotten those since arriving on the ground. He had picked them up sometime on the Ark, although Octavia didn't know why or how.

She stared at Aerrow and the grounder, and she couldn't help comparing them in her mind. The grounder has slightly bigger muscles, but Aerrow's were slightly more toned. They both bore scars, but Aerrow's were much more numerous and much more severe. Likewise, they both had very similar black tattoos on their arms, chests and backs. The tattoos on their arms and chest were the same, long, thin and angular. However, while the grounder had a single, solid black tattoo running down the centre of his back, Aerrow had two separate ones on either side of his back, and they were much thinner. They started near his shoulders, and ran horizontally just below the top of his back before making sharp angles and running vertically down either side of the centre of his back, about 10 centimetres from the centre. These combined with the scars and his very visible back muscles actually made him highly visually appealing, even to Octavia. She realised that they were both warriors of their own people.

It was an intimate moment, shared by just the three of them, their differing emotions blurring together as they seemed to understand what each other had gone through.

It was interrupted by the sound of the hatch opening. Aerrow only just managed to put his shirt back on before Bellamy came up and onto the floor, followed by Clarke.

"what are you two doing up here?" Bellamy asked Aerrow and Octavia

"What's it to you Bellamy" Aerrow countered back, drawing a slight smile from Octavia.

Bellamy saw that Aerrow was not going to back down, and had come to know from the even, determined stare in his purple eyes that he did not like other people trying to control him.

"you shouldn't be up here" Bellamy eventually said to Octavia.

"Neither should he" she gestured to the grounder, defiance in her voice

"I mean it Octavia. Get out"

Octavia reluctantly left the grounder and climbed down the ladder.

"you too, violet eyes" Bellamy said.

Aerrow turned and nodded surreptitiously to the grounder before heading back down after Octavia. Clarke followed him as did Bellamy, who shut the hatch behind him.

Bellamy, Clarke and Aerrow walked through the camp. Bellamy had noticed Aerrow's nod to the grounder, and started to form his own suspicions about what had happened to Aerrow at the hands of the grounders. Maybe Clarke had been right in trying to keep the captive grounder a secret.

Bellamy turned to Aerrow and said "he's up there for a reason"

Aerrow stopped. "if he didn't hate us before, he does now" he told Bellamy, to which Bellamy replied "who cares?"

"his people will care" Clarke joined in "how long until they figure out where he is? And what happens when they do, I mean when they come looking for him? They will Bellamy"

"Relax, princess" Bellamy said a little too calmly for Aerrow's liking "no one saw us take him, he was chained up in that cave the entire time and thanks to the storm, we didn't see a soul on the way back"

Clarke was still not seeing his side of the argument, so he showed both her and Aerrow the grounder's notebook. He opened it to a page with a picture of the 100's camp with 101 lines on the opposite page. 10 of the lines had already been crossed out.

"In case you missed it" Bellamy went on "his people are already killing us. How many more people need to die before you realise we're fighting a war"

Clarke refused to believe that "we're not soldiers, Bellamy" she said

"I am" Aerrow spoke up, a fierce determination in his eyes

"Aerrow I know you can fight, but you saw him. He's very nearly if not just as good as you. You may be able to get the better of one or two of them but against a group? You can't win" Clarke said. Aerrow could see the desperation in her eyes. She didn't want to lose him again.

"She's right violet eyes" Bellamy told him "you took on a group of them once and they took you captive, it's a miracle you escaped. You can't beat them"

"yes I can"

"how can you be so sure"

Aerrow looked around him, making sure no one else could see, before removing his shirt and showing Bellamy not only his scars, but the tattoos he had been given by the grounders. Bellamy recognised them and where he got them from instantly, and his eyes widened slightly. Aerrow stared directly at Bellamy, his eyes focussed, determined not to lose another fight ever again

"because they taught me how" he said


	20. Chapter 20

**Just as a heads up, this chapter along with the following few really focusses on how Aerrow feels about his relationships with the people in his life. It also sets in motion where these relationships go later in the story. As usual, any feedback is much appreciated and hope you enjoy the latest chapter. **

Over the following days, Aerrow continued to train hard, both alone and with Sara. She was improving rapidly and could now hold a sustained fight with Aerrow for over 15 minutes. He still won every time, and held much of his full ability back, but Sara was getting harder and harder to take down. Her defence was extremely solid and she was becoming better at disguising her intended moves.

While she was also becoming more accurate with her throwing knife, Aerrow would not let her use his bow. For some reason he felt like it was meant for him and him only. He was getting better with it just as quickly as Sara was getting better with his bo-staff, which he let her use most of the time now that he had his bow to use as a weapon. Most of his arrows embedded themselves within a few centimetres of the centre of the targets Aerrow had carved into the trees.

Since their night on the top of the drop ship, the Aerrow and Sara had started getting much closer. A friendly glance here, a touch on the shoulder there. At first Aerrow didn't really notice but soon he started picking up on the subtle movements that both he and Sara made towards each other. For a fleeting instant, he wondered if he was falling for her, but he immediately shook the thought from his mind. He was with Clarke. He reminded himself that Sara was just his friend and sparring partner, no more.

One day, Aerrow was helping another kid named Dax cut up a deer Aerrow had killed. It was the first time he had killed an animal using his bow, and although he felt a slight amount of sympathy for the dead animal, he felt proud of his new and ever improving archery skills. He thought the grounder who taught him would be proud too.

Clarke came up to the two and told Dax that it was his turn to speak with his parents on the video communications system that Raven and Monty had managed to put together.

As Dax walked off, Clarke turned to Aerrow "You up for an adventure?" she asked him

"Always. What is it?" he replied casually

"the Ark found some old records that show a supply depot not far from here. I'm going to go check it out, I could use some help"

"What kind of supplies?"

"the kind that might give us a chance to live through winter"

"we can survive on our own can't we? Who's affected by a little frost anyway?" it wasn't that Aerrow was selfish or didn't want to go. He just liked the challenge of having to survive on his own. He relished in it, actually. It was why he had built on his own shelter, collected his own food and refused to speak to anyone on the Ark over the comms system. There wasn't really anyone he wanted to talk to anyway. His only friends were down on the ground.

That said though, the ever falling temperatures had been starting to get to him recently. He had started putting coals from his own personal fire underneath his sleeping platform at night. Although he wouldn't say it aloud, he sometimes wished Clarke would spend more of her nights with him so they could keep each other warm with their shared body heat. He wondered about her sometimes. She seemed to be spending less and less time with him, instead concentrating on helping Finn recover and Bellamy organise the camp. He didn't mind being alone, but he still wanted to be around her and with her.

"well not everyone is as resistant to the cold as you" Clarke said, interrupting Aerrow's thoughts "besides, who's going to protect me if a grounder or a wild cat shows up" she smiled at him.

Aerrow allowed a wry smirk to form on his face. "let me get my stuff" he said

"thanks" she replied "in the meantime I'll try and get Bellamy to come along as well"

Aerrow furrowed his brow in confusion "Bellamy? Why?" he asked

Clarke looked away from him for a brief instant, and action which did not go un-noticed by Aerrow "well, three sets of hands are better than two aren't they?" she told him.

Aerrow shrugged, not thinking much of it "ok then, if you insist" he said.

"great, meet you at the gate in 5 minutes then"

"sure"

With that, Clarke walked into the drop ship to find Bellamy and Aerrow walked back to his camp. He put his knife and staff on his belt and loaded his quiver with arrows before strapping it to his back and picking up his recurve bow.

He didn't however walk straight back up to the camp. Instead, he quickly stopped by his training area, where he found Sara diligently practising a new sequence he had shown her the previous day.

"hey" he called out, walking up behind her

Breathing hard, Sara turned around to face him "what do you think?" she asked him. She said it in a joking manner but underneath she was serious. She genuinely wanted to know what he thought of her and if she indeed was improving.

Aerrow nodded his head "not bad" he said "just remember to plant your feet more solidly, it gives you a better platform from which to launch your attack. Gives you more power"

Sara nodded. She tried to look happy, but Aerrow detected the disappointment in her face. Disappointment in herself. She was so happy most of the time but she took her training very seriously and pushed herself hard, not liking when she failed at something. Aerrow saw that she needed cheering up, so he put his hand on her shoulder and said "but you're going great. You've learnt more in a week than I learnt in six months"

Sara brightened up instantly.

"I'm heading out with Clarke and Bellamy to check out some old supply base" Aerrow continued "you feel like keeping watch over the camp?"

Saar suddenly became tentative "Ok… but I don't know if I can. What if the grounders attack?" she said nervously

"You'll do fine. If the grounders attack close off the gate and barricade everyone inside the drop ship."

Aerrow could still see the doubt in her face. Doubt in her ability. He had felt the same after Bellamy had beaten him. She had helped him then, so he decided to return the favour

"Sara, listen to me" he said, staring straight at her "Our feelings, our fears, they control us, it's not the other way around. It's okay to be afraid. The trick is using it to your advantage. Don't doubt that you can win in a fight, be confident that you won't lose. You do that and you'll be fine, trust me"

Aerrow kissed her forehead, and she seemed to calm down.

"One more thing" Aerrow said

"what?"

Aerrow took his contracted bo-staff from his belt and gave it to her

"why are you giving me your staff?" she asked

"I have my bow. If something happens you'll need this more than me"

Sara nodded and took it. She was happy that Aerrow trusted her enough to leave her with the responsibility of the camp. She realised his confidence in her ability and it gave her confidence of her own.

"I should be back by nightfall. I promise not to get captured by grounders this time" Aerrow joked, turning to walk away

"hey" Sara called out, causing Aerrow to stop and turn back to face her again "have fun"

Aerrow winked at her, a grin on his face. He had every intention of doing that. That was who he was. He got straight into things, not caring about the risks or potential consequences, using his skills to get him through with minimal harm done. He liked doing that, living life on the edge. It excited him, the constant life or death challenge.

Aerrow left Sara to guard the camp and met Clarke and Bellamy at the gate and they set off for the supply depot, munching on the nuts that Jasper and Monty had collected and given them to take as food for the trip.

"you know, the first drop ship's going to come down soon" Clarke told Bellamy as they trudged through the wilderness "I'm pretty sure you can't avoid Jaha forever"

"I can try" Bellamy replied straight away

"why are you trying to avoid Jaha exactly?" Aerrow interjected

"I-" Bellamy started

"he shot him to get on the drop ship" Clarke cut him off

Bellamy glared at Clarke. He was going to tell Aerrow, he was just trying to figure out the words, but Clarke hadn't given him the chance. Aerrow threw an odd look at Bellamy. There didn't seem to be any emotion in it, certainly not anger or resentment or anything like that. It was almost as if Aerrow was simply trying to get a better understanding of him.

"Before you give me the lecture violet eyes, I had no choice. I needed to protect Octavia"

"Relax" Aerrow said quickly, holding his hands up in front of him in fake surrender "I'm not accusing you of anything. I probably would have done the same thing in your position"

"you would?" Bellamy and Clarke said as one.

Aerrow looked at them again, and they saw his answer written in his eyes. The determination to protect the people he cared about whatever the cost to himself or others practically radiated out of his fierce purple eyes.

Before any of them could say anything more, they came over a crest and saw in front of them the ruins of what must have once been a small town or possibly a military outpost.

"the depot is supposed to be around here somewhere" Clarke said

"there's gotta be a door" Bellamy replied.

Aerrow just looked at the ruins, looking for anything that might resemble the supply depot. "what are we waiting for? Let's check the area" he said eventually "split up, cover more ground, but stay within eyesight of each other"

It took some searching but eventually Clarke found the door. As he and Bellamy made their way over to her, Aerrow heard the faint sound of a twig snapping. He turned around, and scanned the area where he heard the sound, but saw nothing. It had probably been a small animal or perhaps a bird. None the less, Aerrow still shut the door behind him and jammed it shut with a metal bar he found on the ground.

Guided by the light of their torches, the three pressed deeper into the depot, searching for the supplies that were supposed to be there, they passed the decayed body of someone who had obviously been trapped in the depot during the war. "hell of a place to die" Bellamy commented as they moved past the skeleton.

They continued searching for the supplies, but found nothing. Even Aerrow was starting to feel like this whole expedition was a complete waste of time.

"anything that was left down here it ruined" Bellamy said.

"they must have redistributed the supplies before the last bombs went off" Clarke observed

"well that's helpful" Aerrow remarked, cracking some orange glow sticks he had found.

"hey, I found blankets" Clarke suddenly said, lifting up the lid of a box, revealing at least a dozen neatly folded blankets.

"excited about a couple of blankets?" Bellamy said, clearly fed up with finding nothing useful.

"well, its something"

"well how about a canteen or a med-kit or a decent freaking tent!" Bellamy shouted. He tapped the lid of a barrel, and the sound it made indicated that it wasn't hollow. Bellamy eagerly lifted the lid up only to find the barrel was full of stale water.

Finally losing his temper, Bellamy shouted in frustration and kicked the barrel over. The sound of water gushing out filled the room, followed by a series of metallic clunks. Aerrow had his back turned to the scene but heard everything, and he narrowed his eyes in thought. The only reason someone would leave something metallic in water would be to conceal it from others.

"Oh my god" Bellamy exclaimed. Clarke and Aerrow walked over to him to see what he was talking about. Bellamy smiled as he held up a serious looking machine gun that Aerrow recognised from the history books he had read on the Ark as an M4.

Aerrow sat down and watched as Clarke retrieved several more guns as well as clips of ammunition while Bellamy strung up a target made of a sheet of cloth from the roof.

"this changes everything" Bellamy said "no more running from spears. You ready to be a badass Clarke?"

Aerrow said nothing, but he disagreed with Bellamy. Being able to fire a gun did not make someone badass. In his opinion they only turned people into cowards, needing the assistance of hypervelocity bullets to take down an adversary. Aerrow had nothing against fighting someone, but he believed in fighting fair and fighting honourably. And there was no honour that came with using a gun. Clarke and Bellamy could practise all they wanted, but Aerrow was never going to use one. He was far happier to use his bow and arrow or his bo-staff. Things that actually required skill to use.

"look, I'm not going to fight you on bringing guns back to camp" Clarke told Bellamy "I know we need them but don't expect me to like it" Aerrow smiled internally. So she felt the same. However, she also believed that they needed guns to survive, which Aerrow wasn't so sure about.

"we're lucky the weapons were packed in crates" Bellamy told her "the fact they survived means we're not sitting ducks anymore. You need to learn how to do this"

"she doesn't need to Bellamy" Aerrow interjected "guns aren't as effective as you think"

"oh really" Bellamy said "prove it"

Aerrow said nothing. He was going to wait until the time was right, which he knew wasn't far away.

Clarke took aim at the cross on the target, but clearly had no idea what she was doing. Bellamy helped her out, moving her into the right position. His hand lingered on Clarke's shoulder for longer than Aerrow liked. He wasn't jealous, it was just Bellamy knew that Clarke was with him, so he shouldn't be trying anything. It got under Aerrow's nerves a little, and it made him want to shut Bellamy up about guns even more.

"Yeah, uhh, that's good" Bellamy said, finally removing his hand from her shoulder

"watch and learn" He stated as he took aim and pressed the trigger. The gun misfired. Aerrow had to stop himself from laughing. Bellamy chambered another round and the gun misfired again. This time Aerrow allowed himself to snicker at the uselessness of Bellamy's gun. "still watching" Clarke said sarcastically.

"my bullets are duds, try yours" Bellamy replied, trying to recover some pride

Clarke took aim and fired. The bullet hit the outer edges of the target but Clarke couldn't hide her excitement. "that was amazing!" she said "am I horrible for feeling that?"

Bellamy shook his head, and took the gun from Clarke, before firing off a round himself. The bullet hit much closer to the centre of the target, but was still wide by about 15 centimetres. Bellamy looked pleased with himself "your turn violet eyes" he said to Aerrow, holding the gun out to him.

Aerrow got to his feet, but did not take the gun.

"no" he said firmly

"come on" Bellamy insisted "if the grounders attack from long range what else are you going to use to take them out? That?" he nodded to Aerrow's bow, un-aware of what the grounders had taught him.

Aerrow shrugged. He walked up and stood next to Bellamy, drew an arrow from his quiver and shot it at the target with his bow, quickly and seamlessly. The arrow flew straight through the centre of the target.

Bellamy rolled his eyes as a way to hide his amazement. Aerrow had clearly picked up more than just some tattoos from the grounders. Clarke grinned. She had seen his bow but had never seen him shoot with it, and to see him so calm and focussed and do something like that with such precise accuracy while making it look so easy was actually incredible to behold.

"lucky shot" Bellamy scoffed, refusing to believe that Aerrow was really that skilled

Aerrow proved him wrong when he shot another arrow, which went straight through the centre of the target as well. "I can do this all day" Aerrow said cheerfully "It's kind of fun"

Now it was Clarke's turn to roll her eyes. "show off" she said to him.

"If I wanted to show off, I would" he said to her, before turning to face Bellamy "consider yourself proven wrong about guns" he said.

Bellamy admitted defeat. Sort of. "yeah, well not everyone is the same as you. There's people there who probably couldn't even fire one of those. They can however fire a gun"

"at what?" Aerrow questioned

"at anything that threatens them" Bellamy's tone had a tinge of menace in it "Clarke, keep practising"

"no, we shouldn't waste the ammunition" she replied

"we need to practise"

"no, we need to talk about how we're going to keep guns around camp. Where are we going to keep them? who has access?"

Aerrow ground his jaw slightly. He didn't like how Bellamy and Clarke had just made this decision to bring the guns back to the camp without asking him how he felt about it. It wasn't that he thought he was a leader, he wanted nothing to do with leadership. It was just that he personally thought it was a bad idea and would have appreciated if Clarke at least had valued his opinion.

Bellamy fired off another round. It was closer than his first, but still not as accurate as Aerrow had been with his bow.

"you left Miller in charge of the grounder" Clarke continued "you must trust him"

Bellamy paused "you should keep him close, the other's listen to him" he said somewhat mystically

"I should keep him close? Bellamy what's going on? You've been acting weird all day" Clarke told him. Bellamy just stared away from her, instead focussing on the target.

Aerrow looked at the bag full of food that Bellamy had brought along with him, and suddenly realised what he was planning on doing "all the rations you took" he spoke up "you were going to run. That's why you came along. You were just going to load up on supplies and disappear"

Bellamy averted his gaze, and looked down on the ground "I don't have a choice" he said, defeat in his voice "the Ark will be here soon"

"so you're just going to leave Octavia?" Clarke said in disbelief

"Octavia hates me. She'll be fine"

"you don't know-"

"Look I shot the chancellor" Bellamy raised his voice "they're going to kill me Clarke. Best case scenario they'll lock me up with the grounder for the rest of my life and there's no way in hell I'm giving Jaha the satisfaction. Keep practising, I need some air" With that, Bellamy handed the gun back to Clarke and walked out, leaving her and Aerrow behind in the bunker.

Aerrow turned to Clarke "Clarke, are you-" he began

"I don't really want to talk to you right now Aerrow" she interrupted "In fact, I don't feel like being around anyone". She tossed the gun to the ground and sat down.

Aerrow remained where he was. He was confused. Clarke had never acted this way before, especially not around him. Was it really Bellamy who caused her to react that way?

Aerrow took a deep breath, exhaled and drew another arrow. He wanted to clear his head. As he took aim though, the target suddenly turned a hazy green colour. Aerrow squeezed his eyes shut. He had no idea what had just happened. He opened his eyes again and this time saw the target start to melt to the floor.

Aerrow lowered his bow and put the arrow back in his quiver. He turned to look at Clarke, who was still sitting down and staring at the floor. He told her that he was heading out as well before doing as Bellamy had done and leaving the depot to get some fresh air.

Aerrow sprinted through the woodland surrounding the depot. Bellamy was nowhere to be seen so Aerrow had decided to try and clear his head by practising some of his parcour skills while carrying his bow.

Suddenly, Aerrow tripped. He landed face first into the mud. He lay there for a moment. If he wasn't confused before, he was now. He never tripped. He couldn't have tripped himself over. Which meant someone else had.

Aerrow lifted his head and turned it to look behind him. To his complete surprise he saw the one person he never thought he'd see again and who he never wanted to see again.

There, standing in front of him, was Dylan Joyce.


	21. Chapter 21

**This was actually one of my favourite chapters to write because unlike just about every other chapter, it focusses purely on Aerrow's past and how he feels about it. Since landing on the ground, Aerrow was progressively getting more and more soft and kind, and this chapter really serves to bring back who he was before landing on the ground and it really cements who his true character is and how dark he can truly be, which is necessary for where the story goes in future chapters providing a war starts between the 100 and the grounders in the show (which would be just the most amazing thing ever) and I thought the way to position Aerrow to revert to his older self would be to remind him of his past and make him face it for the first time instead of forgetting about it.**

Slowly, and in complete shock, Aerrow got back on his feet and turned and stared at Dylan.

"how are you-" Aerrow eventually stammered, but trailed off

"It doesn't matter how I'm here, switchblade" Dylan said "all that matters is that I am here, and so are you"

"but you can't be here"

"and yet here I am, standing in front of you, waiting to finish you off for good this time"

Aerrow turned around and faced away from Dylan

"don't you turn your back to me Eroxin!" he shouted "I've been waiting for this moment. For two years you thought you had recovered and become a better person. You didn't. You only left yourself vulnerable for me to hurt you even more"

"you're a monster" Aerrow said quietly, still not facing him "I should have killed you on the Ark"

"but you didn't. Because you couldn't. But maybe now you can"

"what do you mean?"

"I mean I want you to fight me. Here, now. Prove that you are what she thinks you are"

Aerrow realised he was talking about Clarke. He wondered what she did in fact think of him. He had saved her life. He had been someone for her to open up to, and he had been in love with her, and her in love with him. But he also thought back to that first day on the ground, and what she thought of him then. That he was a murderer. He did not want her to think that of him again.

"No" he said evenly, surprising Dylan slightly. Unseen by Aerrow, who still had his back turned, Dylan smirked and nodded his head

"very well then" he said menacingly "I guess you just need some more persuasion. Let's see how willing you are to fight when I give your pretty little blonde girlfriend a taste of what I did to you.

Aerrow could take no more. He pictured Dylan doing to Clarke what he had done to Arianna. He was not going to let that happen. He forgot any thoughts of him not being a murderer. He only wanted to kill Dylan and protect Clarke. He drew an arrow from his quiver, spun around and fired it at Dylan.

To his complete surprise, Dylan simply moved his hand up and caught the arrow, inches from his face.

Eyes wide open, Aerrow slowly lowered his bow. That should not have been possible.

Dylan casually broke the arrow in half "no kill shots, switchblade. I want a fight"

Aerrow glared at Dylan "you'll get one"

He charged at Dylan, throwing all manner of punches and kicks at him. Somehow, Dylan managed to avoid all of them. His reflexes and they speed at which he acted was un-natural. No matter what Aerrow tried, Dylan was able to avoid his attacks with ease.

Aerrow kept going, his desire to kill Dylan propelling him onwards. Still though, he could not land a single blow on Dylan.

Dylan on the other hand, was getting plenty of hits in on Aerrow. Aerrow launched one of his spinning side-kicks at Dylan, only for Dylan to catch his leg and throw him into a nearby tree. Aerrow got back to his feet instantly, ignoring the pain that had originated in his torso. He came at Dylan again. This time Dylan elbowed him and threw him over his back and into the ground again.

Aerrow had no idea what was even going on anymore. Night was starting to fall and he has completely and utterly confused. What Dylan was doing was not possible. There was no way that he could be beating Aerrow. Aerrow had learnt every martial arts skill known to man and Dylan only had the basic guard training, which ordinarily would be no match for Aerrow. And yet somehow Dylan could evade Aerrow's every move and throw him to the ground like he was a rag doll.

Reality and imagination had blurred for Aerrow. He did not know what was real and what was not. Everything about the Dylan he was fighting was un-natural. His skill, his strength, he reflexes were all enhanced somehow.

Dylan grabbed Aerrow's hair and yanked him up to his feet. "Solitary confinement did not make you strong like you think it did, switchblade" he sneered "it only exposed what I knew all along: That you are weak. And soon everyone you care about will know it as well, just before they join you in death"

Aerrow tried to punch Dylan one last time, but Dylan just grabbed his hand effortlessly and kicked him away. Aerrow landed face down in the mud, and just lay there. He no longer had the resolve to fight anymore. He couldn't win, so what was the point? He was defeated, and he knew it. He heard Dylan walk up to him, and take his knife from him.

"you thought the worst was over after the Ark" Dylan hissed "you could not have been more wrong. This is the end for you, switchblade"

Aerrow just lay his head back down onto the mud, and resigned himself to his death, knowing that he was powerless to prevent it. Suddenly, he saw someone else crouch down beside him. They lifted his head up and brushed his hair out of his face, and Aerrow finally saw who it was.

It was Arianna.

Now he definitely knew he was hallucinating. But with everything else that had happened, Aerrow did not know what was real and what wasn't anymore.

"Arianna?" he stammered in disbelief "how are you here? I saw you die"

"I had to see you" she said. The sound of her voice filled Aerrow's ears, and he was infinitely happy to hear her again.

"I'm sorry" he said, tears starting to form in his eyes "I'm sorry I was the reason you died"

She shook her head "no you weren't. That was Dylan"

"he killed you to hurt me"

"and now you can make things right. You can end this"

"I don't know how to stop him. I can't fight anymore"

"yes you can, and yes you will"

"why?"

"because that is what you do. You are a fighter, and you are a hero. You can beat him"

"but I don't know how"

"yes you do. You know in your heart what you are fighting for. He doesn't. You are better than him"

"how?"

"because you care. You care about the people around you, and you fight to protect them. But you can't do that if you let yourself be killed. So live, stargazer. Live more me, live for Clarke, live for Sara. You can end this now, so get up, and fight back!" she said before fading away into the night right before Aerrow's eyes.

A renewed energy surged through Aerrow. Just as Dylan was about to bring the knife down, Aerrow flipped around, grabbed it and threw Dylan off of him. Aerrow stood instantly and re-engaged Dylan. This time though, Aerrow had the upper hand. He had new found skill, new found strength, new found determination. Dylan was no match for the human weapon he himself had created.

Aerrow jumped up, wrapped his legs around Dylan's neck before backflipping, sending Dylan to the ground and bringing Aerrow back to a standing position.

Dylan rolled over onto his back to find Aerrow standing in front of him, bow in hand, with an arrow aimed at his head.

"this is for Arianna" Aerrow said slowly in the coldest tone imaginable.

He released the arrow.


	22. Chapter 22

**This chapter starts to see some cracks appearing in Aerrow and Clarke's relationship, as they disagree about the guns. Like I have done in some of the previous chapters, I have taken bits dialogue originally from other characters in the show and had Aerrow say them instead. As a heads up, Aerrow feels the way he does in this chapter as well as future ones mostly because of what happened between him and the grounders a few chapters back, which brings him into conflict with Clarke. I will continue uploading regularly as I have a lot of time on my hands and I think where the actual show is going is perfect for this story and Aerrow, especially after watching the latest episode. As usual, I hope you enjoy the chapter and please feel free to review and give any feedback on what you think I should do in future with this story and also just what you think in general.**

The arrow hit nothing.

It imbedded itself harmlessly into the ground. Aerrow hadn't missed Dylan. Dylan had just vanished. He had disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Aerrow lowered his bow and stared at the spot where Dylan had been just a few seconds ago. He took a deep breath. It had all been a hallucination. It must have been the nuts that they had collected and eaten that day. They must have had hallucinogenic properties.

And yet the experience had felt so real. Dylan punching him, throwing him into the tree. Aerrow even had the graze on his cheek to prove it.

Aerrow retrieved the arrow and just stood and stared at nothing in particular. He was going to kill Dylan. He would have, and he wanted too.

He thought back to that night when he almost killed Murphy, and he had nearly killed himself because of it. Aerrow felt no such emotion now. He realised that he had become softer since he had arrived on the ground, and since he had gotten into a relationship with Clarke. However, that part of him forged by Dylan on the Ark still remained: the damaged part that would always crave violence and death to protect the people he loved.

He actually smiled slightly. He realised that on that night that he tried to kill himself, he wasn't willing to accept that he was that kind of person. The difference now was that he was willing to accept who he was and what he was willing to do. He was not evil, but he had the capacity to do the unthinkable to stop the unthinkable.

Suddenly, Aerrow heard gunfire in the distance. He instantly thought of Clarke. If the nuts had affected him, then they would not doubt have affected her and Bellamy as well and if they had then-

Aerrow didn't even give himself time to finish thinking the sentence. He was on his feet instantly and sprinting in the direction he heard the gunfire coming from.

He saw at the bottom of the hill he was on, 3 figures in a clearing. Bellamy was on the ground, Clarke was hiding behind a tree and another kid was shooting at her.

Rage welled up inside of Aerrow, the memory of the hallucination still replaying over and over in his head at the sight in front of him. He wanted nothing more than to shoot whoever it was with his bow right then and there, but he was out of range, so he sprinted down the hill as fast as he possibly could.

As he sprinted, he kept an eye on what was going on at the bottom of the hill. Bellamy got to his feet and tackled the kid. The kid however kicked him clear and got on top of Bellamy and started punching him. Bellamy fumbled for his gun but the kid took it off of him and began choking him with it.

Clarke run out from behind the tree and shouted "get the hell off him" at the kid who Aerrow now recognised as Dax. Dax however hit her with the gun, sending her to the ground.

Aerrow had only just gotten within shooting range when he saw in front of him the edge of a cliff. It looked to be a big drop, at least 15 metres. Aerrow didn't care. He leapt off and over the edge and began freefalling to the ground.

As he fell, he drew a single arrow from his quiver, aimed and fired it in mid-air.

Clarke stared at Dax in horror. Just as he was about to shoot her, an arrow seemingly came from nowhere and hit him in the back, its sharpened tip exploding through the other side of his chest. Blood coming out of his mouth and chest, Dax slumped to the ground and died.

Aerrow meanwhile had no time to prepare himself. He hit the ground. Hard. The only thing that saved him from breaking both of his legs was the advanced parcour technique he had been practising on lower heights that was designed for big drops. Aerrow did not get the technique perfectly and instead of rolling over himself and back onto his feet, he tumbled the rest of the way down the hill, eventually coming to an unconscious halt face down about 10 metres away from where Bellamy and Clarke were.

Clarke rushed over to him, screaming his name but Aerrow did not respond. For a second, Clarke feared the worst but then she saw his back moving up and down with his breathing. Breathing a sigh of relief, she sat back down next to Bellamy.

Slowly, Aerrow regained consciousness, but he did not move. He was more interested in the conversation he was hearing between the two people whose lives he had very probably saved.

"you're okay" he heard Clarke say to Bellamy

"no, I'm not" he stammered, still in shock "my mother. If she knew what I'd done… who I am. She raised me to be better, to be good"

"Bellamy"

"and all I do is hurt people" he sniffed "I'm a monster"

"hey, It wasn't just Aerrow who saved my life, you did too. You tackled him when he was shooting at me. You may be a total ass half the time, but" she paused "I need you"

Still lying on the ground and with his head facing away from the other two, Aerrow opened his eyes. Had he really just heard Clarke say that?

"we all need you" she continued "none of us would have survived this place if it wasn't for you. You want forgiveness? Fine, I'll give it to you, you're forgiven, ok. But you can't run Bellamy. You have to come back with me. You have to face it"

"like you faced your mother?"

Clarke paused "you're right. I don't want to face her. I don't want to face any of it" she sounded close to tears "all I think about every day is how we're going to keep everyone alive, but we don't have a choice"

Bellamy was still not convinced "Jaha will kill me when he comes down"

"we'll figure something out"

"well can we figure it out later?"

Clarke lay against the tree beside him "whenever you're ready" she said

Aerrow decided that now was a good time for him to get up. Coughing and groaning slightly, he slowly pushed himself up off the ground. Clarke immediately rushed over to him. "Aerrow, are you ok?" she asked him". "I'm fine" he coughed, staggering to his feet. His legs were definitely bruised from the landing, but he could deal with it. He always did. "we should get back to camp"

She glanced at Bellamy "sure" she said "you lead the way, we'll be right behind you. I just need to get my stuff from the depot"

Aerrow nodded at her, before turning away and walking back to the camp, not knowing that Clarke was not getting just her stuff from the depot as she said she would.

Aerrow limped back into the camp. His left leg in particular was very sore, as it had taken the brunt of the fall. He knew that it was just bruising and that with a little rest and some of the healing techniques the grounder had taught him it would be better in a few days.

He made his way over to his shelter, to find Sara sitting in it. He could not read her face as well as he normally could, usually he could tell exactly what she was thinking and how she was feeling, but not this time. She had gotten better at disguising her emotions, exactly as Aerrow told her she had too, but Aerrow still felt something along the lines of confusion as to what she was hiding behind the stoic, blank expression on her face.

"hey" he said, coming over "how did everything go"

"just fine" she replied, looking up with a small but happy grin on her face. "nothing really happened that threatened the safety of the camp"

"yeah? Good" Aerrow said happily. He noticed that, happy as she seemed, Sara was not her usual self. Something was bothering her "what's the matter?" he asked

"I saw her" she said "I saw Arianna. She was standing right in front of me. I know now that I was hallucinating from those nuts but it still felt so real. It just made me realise how much I miss her"

"I saw her too" Aerrow said, thinking back to the events of his own hallucinations

"you did?"

"yeah. Did she say thing to you?"

Sara nodded "she said I was strong, and that she was proud of me, of who I had become and what I was doing"

Aerrow stared at her and allowed a grin to form in the corner of his mouth "she's not the only one" he said, giving her a soft and friendly elbow in her ribs. Sara turned to look at him, a smile on her face as well. "now come on" Aerrow said "I need to eat something that won't warp my mind and so do you" he pulled her to her feet and they walked back up to the camp

They sat together by the fire. Aerrow said nothing. He had not seen Clarke and Bellamy arrive back at the camp yet and although he didn't want to, he felt slightly suspicious.

Suddenly, Miller came charging out of the drop ship, shouting that the grounder was gone. Lots of people started to panic, saying that the grounders were going to come back and kill them all. Aerrow wasn't so sure. The captured grounder had apparently saved Octavia's life, and the ones he had been captured by had chosen not to kill him once they had seen he was strong enough to live. They were not the mindless killing machines that they were made out to be. They did what they did for a higher purpose. Aerrow just didn't know what yet.

"Let the grounders come" Bellamy said boldly as he returned to the camp, with Clarke by his side. While the others rushed over to them, Aerrow hung back a little. He wondered what had taken them so long to get back to the camp. He eventually made his way to the front of the group and stood next to Finn, who looked just as confused as Aerrow did, just as Bellamy said "we've been afraid of them far too long"

'you have, you mean' Aerrow thought

"and why?" Bellamy continued "because of their knives and spears?"

'they're more honourable than guns' Aerrow kept contradicting Bellamy's every statement in his head

Bellamy glanced at Clarke and they unslung the weapons they had carried back to the camp. Aerrow squeezed his eyes shut and sighed in defeat. Despite his warnings and his best efforts to dissuade her, Clarke had sided with Bellamy and made the wrong decision. She had also lied to him. She said she would just get her stuff from the depot, not the weapons.

"these are weapons, okay, not toys" Clarke told the group "and we have to be prepared to give them up to the guard when the drop ships come. But until then, they're going to help keep us safe"

"and there are plenty more where these came from" Bellamy said "tomorrow we start training. If the grounders come, we're going to be ready to fight"

In that moment, the morale of the group started to rise again. The now knew that they were not going to be killed by the grounders. That they could fight and win. The only people that Aerrow could make out who seemed to not like the idea were himself and Finn, and they exchanged a worried glance. They both knew that this wasn't about defending themselves, this was about starting a war.

Aerrow had seen enough. Tired, sore and frustrated, he turned and walked back over to the fire, on his own.

After checking Finn's bandages, Clarke came over to join him. He sighed as she came up beside him. He didn't know what to think or how to feel. He tried to convince himself that he still felt the same about her, but he knew deep down that it wasn't true.

Ever since being put through what had made him what he was, Aerrow had had a strong sense of integrity, of honour. He did not like lying or people who stabbed others in the back, both metaphorically and literally. Despite his own dark traits, Aerrow always tried his hardest to tell the truth and nothing but what he truly and honestly thought and felt. It was part of the reason he had revealed himself to Clarke on that first day.

And now the person he cared about the most, Clarke, had broken the integrity that Aerrow so strongly believed in. He knew that Clarke was her own person and made her own decisions but her lying to him had hurt him in his soul, and he didn't know how to deal with it.

"whats up?" she said, noticing the sad expression on his face

"you're really serious about having guns around camp"

"with the grounder escaping we have to expect retaliation. We have to be prepared"

"yeah, our ancestors wanted to be prepared too, so they built bombs"

"rifles are not the same as nukes"

"yes they are. Don't you get it? This is all about being better than the grounders, having better weapons, being able to win no matter how skilled the grounders are"

"and what do you call doing what you did to be so much better than the person who tortured you that when you went after him for revenge there was no way he could win?"

Aerrow stopped "you're right" he said quietly "I did exactly the same thing. But I'm better now. Yes, I am a killer, but only when I absolutely need to be. I don't seek out violence. I don't want to start a war. Bellamy does. Come on Clarke, you can't predict what he's going to do"

"there's no perfect answer, Aerrow"

"the grounder saved Octavia's life and then Bellamy brought him back here and tortured him"

"yeah but if he hadn't brought him back here Finn would be dead"

"Clarke-"

"I trust him" she raised her voice slightly, and Aerrow detected the faintest hint of desperation in it.

Aerrow paused. He couldn't believe what Clarke had just said. He had seen flashes of good intention in Bellamy but his bad ones had over-ridden them, and although they seemingly got along with an uneasy truce formed since their stand-off by the river, Aerrow still had a serious distrust for him.

"you can't be serious" he said

Clarke paused, before eventually saying "I am"

Aerrow shut his eyes and rubbed his hand over his forehead and through his hair. He had not wanted this to happen. He had not thought it could happen, but it was. "Clarke" he said "you and Bellamy are leading us down a dangerous road. I just wish you would listen to what I'm trying to say"

Clarke's eyes flared at him. How was he not understanding her? They needed the guns. He couldn't keep them safe on his own. He had help from Sara but it wasn't enough, Sara wasn't good enough. She thought about the times she had seen him training her over the past few days, and how close they seemed. She had seen the smile on Aerrow's face, the smile of happiness that _Sara_ had brought him, not her, who he was meant to be in love with. "Yeah, well I wish you would listen to me, too. But you're not going to" she said, standing up

"Clarke-"

"goodnight Aerrow" she said, storming off back to her tent, leaving Aerrow standing there, looking at the ground.

He did not know what to think or what to feel. He did not think Clarke had just broken up with him, but things would definitely never be the same between them. He suddenly had an urge to have some time on his own, to get away from everything.

He started walking back down to his shelter, to gather his weapons. He was just strapping his quiver around his back when Sara came up behind him "everything ok?" she asked

Aerrow stopped, turned around and gave her a sad look "given the choice" he said, resuming his walk "would you rather try to make peace with the grounders of launch straight into a war with them?"

"I'd try to make peace with them" she said straight away "I would only fight them if I absolutely had to, like what you did when they surrounded us while we were looking for Octavia"

Aerrow smiled. After what had just happened with Clarke he was suddenly much more aware of how much he valued having Sara around him. Someone he did not have to judge or worry about them judging him. Someone he felt completely free to be himself around. "exactly" he said

"but it's not like bringing guns back to the camp is an act of war is it?"

"It's the first step. I need to try and figure out how we can live alongside the grounders without conflict" he paused "I'm going to head off on my own for a few days, give me some time to think about what's happening. Are you going to be ok?"

"sure" she said "You're training me, remember. I can take care of myself."

Aerrow smiled again. Her inner strength never ceased to amaze him. "I'm just making sure" he said quietly "I care about you, Sara"

He didn't wait for her to say anymore. He turned away and walked off into the forest, not sure exactly where he was going or what he wanted to do. All he knew was that he wanted to escape this complicated world and just be on his own for a while.


	23. Chapter 23

**This was another really fun chapter for me to write because Aerrow is alone for the entire duration of the chapter and with nothing to worry about except being on his own. For pretty much the first time since landing on the ground he has time to think about what has happened in that time and to evaluate his mindset. This chapter is also very reminiscent and focusses on many life lessons Aerrow has learnt.**

Aerrow walked through the darkness of the woods, keeping a fast and steady pace. He held his bow in his hand, and every once in a while he would mindlessly fire off an arrow at a tree in front of him and retrieve is when he walked past, for no reason other than to distract him and to take his anger out on something. He kept this pattern for over 3 hours, not stopping once.

Eventually, he came to a small stream seeming out of a rock and trickling down the slope of the hill he had been walking up. Aerrow crouched down and cupped the water in his hands, before splashing it over his face and hair. The water was cool and refreshing, and Aerrow decided to stay and rest at this spot for the night at least.

Where he would go from the spot the next day he did not know. He didn't even know how long he would be gone. He admitted to himself that he had been a little selfish in leaving Clarke and Sara to go wandering off on his own, not caring about how they might react. Sara seemed to handle his departure well enough when he spoke to her, but he couldn't help but wonder what she truly thought. He began to feel a small amount of regret for his actions that day.

Without warning, the ground beneath Aerrow's feet collapsed and he fell through the hole that had opened up in the earth.

Aerrow dropped about 3 metres, before rolling down a steep tunnel and eventually coming to a halt, sprawled out in an immense underground chasm.

Aerrow pushed himself up, and beheld what was in front of him. The cave he was in was massive, nearly twice as big as the cave the grounders had held him in. it must have been around 50 metres across.

About a quarter of the cave was solid ground, comprised of a combination of flat rock and moss. The remaining section of the cave was an underground lake, lit by the glow of hundreds of glow worms hanging on the roof. The glow of the worms combined with the mineral deposits in the lake made the water appear bright blue. Combined with the intricately shaped erosion patterns on the shallow floor of the lake, it was one of the most beautiful landscapes Aerrow had ever seen.

He also realised that he was without doubt the first person to ever see it. Due to the roof of the cave being solid and completely closed off, no-one would have even known it existed. Indeed, the only reason Aerrow found himself there was because of a freak collapse of the ground he happened to be standing on. He stared in amazement at his surroundings, and marvelled at the miracles of nature.

He remembered something his father had once told him on the Ark when he was 10, after his first application to be a guard had been rejected. Aerrow had been so upset, he had barricaded himself inside his room for 2 days before coming out. His father had sat down next to him and said "everything in our lives happens for a reason. Why that is is not always clear at first, but every set-back, loss, disappointment or heartbreak sets us up for something truly special later on in our lives"

Aerrow smiled at the memory. He realised how true it was. Every bad thing that had happened in his life had lead to something good. He had acquired his lethal skills because of what Dylan had done to him. He had been sent to the ground after refusing to reveal his innocence and for taking the life of another. And he had only found this beautiful underground chasm after what had happened with Clarke.

Aerrow decided that he would stay at his current location until he was ready to go back. He considered staying in the cave permanently, but realised that, as much as he enjoyed being alone and in complete control of everything around him, there were people back at the camp, Clarke and Sara especially, that needed him, and he needed them. He would eventually head back, but only once he had calmed down, cleared his head and felt ready to.

He quickly started a fire and gathered some of the moss to create a soft mattress for him to sleep on. He also set some traps on an animal trail outside the cave that he had spotted so that he would have some food the next day. Once he was set up, he propped himself up against the smooth wall of the cave and just sat there, in front of the fire, silently thinking to himself.

In the light of the fire, he finally had a chance to examine the extent of the damage his jump off the cliff earlier that night had done to his legs. His initial thought had been correct, they were badly bruised, with purple, blue and even yellow blotches trailing up both of his shins. They were sensitive to touch, even for him, so he reached into one of the pockets of his cargo pants and pulled out a small pouch. It had been given to him by the grounder back in the cave, who had described with a series of hand gestures that the herbs, accelerated the healing process of virtually anything, including injuries, infections and poisons.

Aerrow untied the string holding the pouch closed, stuck his fingers inside it and pulled out some of the herbs. He swallowed them and almost instantly felt his legs start to feel better. Aerrow re-tied the string and put the pouch away and his gaze settled on the blue lake in front of him, and he was overcome by an urge to go swimming in it, so he got to his feet and dived in. He reasoned that it would be a good idea anyway. The minerals in the water would further increase the healing rate of his legs and give his muscles some much needed rest and relaxation.

The water was surprisingly warm. It must have been heated by some sort of geothermal heat source from beneath it. Aerrow had been in water since getting on the ground, but had never been properly swimming. He wasn't actually very good at it at first but soon got the hang of it. He didn't really bother learning too much though. The water was shallow enough for him to stand up with the water only coming up to his chest.

He spent a good, long time letting the water almost soak through to his bones, but he eventually started feeling the effects of the past 24 hours and was in desperate need of some sleep. He got out of the water, got dressed again and put his fire out, leaving the cave illuminated only by the soft light of the glow worms. He lay down on the platform of moss and closed his eyes, savouring the feeling of the hot coals of the fire slowly drying him off.

Somewhere in the distance, the howl of a wolf could be heard, its high pitched cry piercing through the woods, echoing ominously through the trees. Aerrow was not scared. He knew that if it came to it, he could take down a wolf easily. In fact, he felt at peace, like he was truly a part of nature.

Aerrow woke early the next day. He marked the entrance of the cave with a surreptitious carving in the rock next to it. He then walked up to the top of the hill to watch the sunrise. As he stared at the first rays of sunlight lighting up the sky, he realised that this was the first time he had actually seen the sun rise since landing on the ground, every other day he had either woken up after it, or he had been busy concentrating on something else, only taking notice of the sky getting brighter, nothing else. Once again, he found himself staring in appreciation of the environment around him and how happy he was that he was able to experience it alone and with nothing else to worry about.

Once the sun had risen further and the dazzling morning colours of the sky had been replaced by the same old light blue colour, Aerrow checked his traps. There was nothing in the first two but in the third and final one, a snare improvised from the drawstring of his bow, there was a wild pig. The snare had caught around its neck. Aerrow watched as the pig shrieked and jumped and ran around in terror as it was slowly suffocated by the vine wrapped around its neck.

Aerrow felt something for the dying animal. It was in pain, and was facing a slow death. As dark as some of his past actions may have been, Aerrow still had an amount kindness in his heart, and did not want the pig to suffer any longer as it already had. Aerrow tackled the pig quickly. Pressing its struggling body into the ground with his body weight, Aerrow drew his knife.

He hesitated. He had killed before. He had killed plenty of animals for food and had killed more than a few people. Every one of those times though, Aerrow had either been defending himself or someone close to him, and he had not thought once about it. Or, when he was hunting, he had been at long range and had killed the animal without knowing what it was truly going through as it died. This time, Aerrow was much, much closer to his victim, and could feel everything: its struggling muscles, its laboured breathing. He could even see the sheer terror in its eyes.

In some ways Aerrow did not want to kill the pig, but deep down in his heart, he knew that he had to. "I'm sorry" he whispered before bringing the blade down and plunging it deep into the pig's heart.

Aerrow sat back and watched as the pig stopped struggling, its breathing slowed and the life left its eyes. He was reminded of the time when he had seen Arianna die, and he couldn't help but feel some remorse for the dead pig laying at his feet.

Aerrow dragged the pig back into his underground cave, and decided to save it to eat that night. He spent the rest of the day relaxing, either scouting the surrounding woods or swimming in the clear blue water in the cave. Aerrow was so caught up in the experience, he completely lost track of time, and even where he was. It was only after the cave started to go dark and the glow worms brightened up that Aerrow realised night had fallen.

Aerrow sat by his fire, waiting for the pig to cook. He passed the time by making more arrows and sharpening his existing ones with a piece of hard rock he had found. He was sharpening his knife when he heard a scuffing sound of something moving over the rocks in the cave

Aerrow looked up from his knife and saw, sliding effortlessly along the ground, a beautifully patterned snake. It was about 2 metres long and was headed directly towards him. Aerrow recognised it as a type of Cobra.

He didn't move when the snake slid over his shoe and up his leg before entwining itself around his torso, arms and neck. His lack of movement was not due to far. Far from it. Aerrow had always been fascinated by snakes and their intricate beauty. Aerrow didn't move because he didn't feel the need to. He would let it do what it wanted and not try to disturb it at ll. Aerrow knew that it was not going to try to constrict him. It was too small and used venom to kill it's prey. It only wanted his body heat.

He marvelled at the fact that although the Cobra was one of the most venomous snakes in the world and could easily kill him if it wanted to, it chose not to. He realised that he and the snake were a lot like the 100 and the grounders. They could very easily despise each other and kill each other, but they could also interact peacefully without any blood being spilt. Aerrow had read in a book once that at the exact point you truly understand someone, you also love them. Aerrow felt that way with the Cobra wrapped around his body at that moment.

Aerrow just sat there with his new friend for half an hour before he gently uncurled the Cobra and placed it back on the ground. The Cobra lifted its head and a portion of his body, flattened its hood and curled itself into a series of coils. Aerrow stared at it, and recognised the figure of the snake.

He looked at his necklace the grounder had given him, with the carved wooden snake on it, and it was the exact same position as the Cobra in front of him was currently in. It even had the same rough body shape and markings that were carved into the wooden snake on the necklace.

Aerrow just stared at the Cobra in front of him in realisation. He had once seen a Chinese symbol carved into a small rock tablet on the Ark, at the point where the first two stations had joined when the 12 stations originally decided to join together to become one. He had researched it later and discovered that it said "everything is connected".

He thought about that, and thought of how he was connected with everything around him. He was connected to the Cobra in front of him, the grounders, his scars, his bow. Everything had a connection. He thought of Clarke and Sara, and how he had a connection to them. He was in a relationship with Clarke and Sara was his friend, training partner and one of his few remaining links to Arianna.

He stared back into the flames of the fire, and realised that, no matter how peaceful his time in the cave had been and how desperately appreciative he was of the opportunity to experience it, it was time to go back to camp.


	24. Chapter 24

**This chapter is effectively another interlude, put in purely to set up the next few chapters, which is where major events happen and big changes occur with Aerrow and his relationships with the others. I also included various scenes in this chapter, particularly the first scene, to position the characters involved for where the story goes in future events.**

Aerrow stood in a clearing, an arrow aimed directly at Sara, who stood 20 metres away.

"are you sure you want to do this?" he called out one last time

"I'm sure" came her reply

After being gone for two days, Aerrow had returned to the camp the previous night and had been greeted by Sara wanting to train harder than ever. In the time since she had seen Arianna in her hallucination, Sara had changed. She was more secure in herself, more confident, and more focussed. She was no longer as naïve or unsure of herself as she had been when Aerrow had first met her. She was also darker, less afraid of things, much like him. She was in a much better frame of mind to become what she wanted to be.

"okay then" he said "are you ready?"

"ready"

Aerrow released the arrow.

It flew straight towards her. When she seemed unable to move, Aerrow felt a wave of horror shoot through him. Had he made the wrong choice? Had he pushed things too far this time? In releasing the arrow, had he killed one of his closest friends?

Suddenly though, Sara pivoted to the side and brought her arm up, catching the arrow cleanly and harmlessly, just as she had been practising all morning. Aerrow grinned. He was proud of her. When he had first met her, he would never have even considered doing what he had just done, but over time, Aerrow had come to believe in Sara's capability and what she could truly accomplish.

Arrow still in hand, she walked over to him, grinning. She herself could not quite believe she had actually been able to catch the arrow, but had known all along that she was able to. Aerrow returned the grin. They both understood what had actually just happened. Sara had stared death in the face, and had not backed down. Instead, she had stood up and fought against it, which was one of the biggest steps she could take to becoming a fighter like Aerrow.

"we should head back up to the main camp" Sara said suddenly "we don't want to miss the ceremony"

"ceremony? What?" Aerrow did not know what she was talking about.

"the chancellor's Unity Day speech. It's being shown down here as well"

"Right, Unity Day. Great" Aerrow said, a tinge of resentment in his voice

Sara didn't seem to notice. If she had, she didn't say anything. They packed up their stuff and headed back up to the camp where the rest of the 100 were gathered around the screen the Unity Day ceremony was being displayed on.

Aerrow left Sara and stood on his own away from the group. He didn't really care about Unity Day. To him it just described what was forced to happen as a consequence of war. He saw Finn and Clarke standing together near the drop ship. Clarke. Aerrow still didn't know how to feel about her. When he had returned they had reconciled somewhat but the mood between them was still a little frosty.

Seeing Aerrow, Clarke moved away from Finn and re-joined the others, who had left the screen when Jasper brought out a barrel of alcohol he and Monty had distilled.

Aerrow walked over to Finn. "everything ok between you two?" Finn asked. "I don't know" Aerrow replied with a sigh "she thinks having guns around camp is a necessary protection, but she can't see how much of a danger they really are"

"you think guns are a bad idea too huh?" Finn said. Aerrow nodded.

He made to say something but stopped himself when he spotted Octavia sneaking out of the camp. "where do you think she's going?" Finn asked him. Aerrow didn't answer. He just watched Octavia head out of the gate and walk off into the forest, a perplexed look on his face.

With the shorter days brought on by winter, night fell fast. Fuelled by the alcohol, the 100 were still variously dancing around or playing drinking games, Clarke and Sara included.

Aerrow leaned against a tree on the outside of the main party area, just watching the scene in front of him. He almost wanted to join in, but in this environment, any cloud of judgement could result in him letting his guard down. He wanted to talk to Clarke, but she was clearly being affected by the alcohol and would not be in any position to think clearly. He made a mental note to talk to her after she had calmed down. He saw Sara, dancing around without a care in the world. He smiled to himself. She was a better person than him. She was able to pluck an arrow from mid-air but could also still enjoy herself and have a good time. That said, Aerrow was enjoying himself a little bit, not having to think about anything and just seeing the people he cared about safe and happy.

Finn walked up to him, and pulled him away from the clearing. "I think I've figured out how to make peace with the grounders" he said.

Aerrow raised his eyebrows "we find the grounder that escaped" Finn continued, holding up the grounder's dagger "I know where he lives. If we can convince him that we mean no harm then maybe he can tell the others"

Aerrow nodded "sounds like a plan" he said "when the grounders captured me, they tried to kill me. When I survived, they gave me tattoos just like theirs" Aerrow pulled the corner of his shirt down, showing Finn one of the tattoos on his chest but being careful not to reveal any of his scars. "The captured grounder saw them and seemed to understand something"

"good" Finn said as the two of them left the camp and headed off towards the grounder's lair.

They arrived just as the grounder was helping Octavia out of the underground room. Finn stepped forward and drew the grounder's dagger. The grounder saw Finn and immediately drew another knife, holding it backhanded. He stood in front of Octavia as if to protect her. Aerrow saw in the grounder's eyes and stance that he would not hesitate to kill Finn. Arrow wasn't surprised, given what Bellamy must have done to him.

"Finn?" Octavia said in surprise "Lincoln, wait. Wait! He's my friend"

So the grounder was called Lincoln. Aerrow stepped forward out of the shadows as well. Lincoln immediately recognised him and relaxed a little bit, but still held the knife in his hand.

Finn held the dagger out to Lincoln "I think you lost this" he said.

Lincoln realised that the two were not here to kill him, and allowed them to enter his cave.

"so what the hell are you doing here?" Octavia asked Aerrow and Finn as they walked in

"I could ask you the same thing" Finn replied "I could also ask how long you've known he speaks english, but I won't"

Finn picked up a horn from one of Lincoln's desks. "you blew this when you're people were hunting us" he said

Lincoln nodded. Aerrow had not known about that. It must have happened after he had been captured.

"you saved our lives" Finn continued "I have to believe there's more like you"

"I stabbed you" Lincoln finally spoke

"and we tortured you. If the two of us can get along then maybe there's hope"

Aerrow thought back to when he was in the cave with the grounders. He realised that maybe they were not trying to kill him with the venom, that perhaps they were testing him. Testing to see if he was strong enough to survive it. He remembered a poster he had in his room as a small child on the Ark. It was a picture of a silhouetted figure standing over a grave, with the caption "living is not for the weak". Over the years, Aerrow had come to appreciate just how true the statement was.

"we should learn from history instead of repeating it" he spoke up for the first time

"how's that going to happen?" Octavia asked

"for starters: no more killing" Finn said

"I don't have the power to call a truce" Lincoln remarked

"then bring us to someone who does" Aerrow stepped forward

Lincoln scoffed and turned to face Octavia

"hey look" Finn said "the rest of our people are coming down here. The first ship lands in two days"

"It's true" Octavia told Lincoln

"and because of the attacks, they're sending mostly soldiers, the people who enforce our laws"

"the Ark is about survival at any cost" Aerrow said "they don't hesitate to kill people that fall out of line. When those people get down here, if they feel threatened, they will start a war. And I don't want that"

Lincoln seemed to consider what Aerrow was saying.

"neither do you" Aerrow continued "I think that's why you blew that horn"

"once the soldiers get here it'll be too late" Finn said "we'll have no power to stop them. But if they see we're at peace, then maybe we have a chance to stay that way"

Lincoln stared long at hard at Finn and Aerrow. Finn looked a little nervous but Aerrow's gaze was rock solid. Lincoln saw the genuine desire for peace in Aerrow's face. Lincoln had seen the younger person's tattoos. He wouldn't have gotten them without having to endure the snake venom, and to do that required strength. Lincoln respected Aerrow for surviving the venom, and then not having the desire for revenge, to fight the grounders.

"all right" he eventually said "you bring your leader, I'll bring mine"

Aerrow nodded at Lincoln

"wait, Bellamy?" Octavia spoke up "he'll never go for this"

"no, not your brother" Lincoln told her, looking at the other two.

Aerrow understood what he meant "Clarke" he said. Lincoln nodded. Aerrow looked at Finn and they both turned and walked out of the cave and back to the camp, hopeful of being able to make peace with the grounders before it was too late.

They arrived back into the camp about an hour later. Aerrow told Finn that he would find Clarke and talk to her about it, since he was the one who was in a relationship with her and she would be more likely to listen to him.

Aerrow found her drunkenly playing another drinking game. She looked up from the drink in front of her to see Aerrow standing in front of him, a light look of disapproval on his face. "what is it?" she asked him, slightly annoyed. "we need to talk" Aerrow said.

Clarke reluctantly left the table and walked with Aerrow over to a quieter part of the camp. "did something happen?" she asked him.

Aerrow stared at her. She had a concerned look on her face, but Aerrow also detected a small amount of anger. He considered lying to her, but knew that when she found out he had set her up and betrayed her trust things would be over between them, and he did not want that to happen. Despite recent events, he still loved her.

"I set up a meeting with the grounders" he told her.

Clarkes expression changed to pure surprise "a meeting?" she stuttered "I don't understand. With who? How?"

"Me and Finn were just with the grounder that we had on the drop ship. His name's Lincoln"

"wait a second. He spoke to you?"

"that's not important" he interrupted her. He decided he needed to be a little bit forceful with his words to try and really get through to her that, as much as he would like to fight, war was not the answer. "If we want to live in peace-"

"Aerrow! We can't live in peace with people who have done nothing but kill us!"

"can you think of a better way to stop the bloodshed?"

"yeah: with the guns that the guard bring down"

Aerrow could not believe what she was saying. It was almost as if she had been brainwashed by Bellamy into thinking that guns were the ONLY solution. "do you really want a war?" he said, raising his voice and taking her by surprise at the harshness in it. He softened his voice "because at this rate, that's what's coming"

Clarke said nothing "Look, I know it's a long shot, but I really think that we can do better than we did the first time" Aerrow continued. He took a deep breath, and took the plunge "I trust them" he said, deliberately using Clarkes own words against her.

Clarke seemed to look inside herself. She wanted to believe him but couldn't. Not after everything that had happened. Clarke shook her head. "I don't" she said.

Aerrow said nothing. He did not even try to mask the look of disappointment that came over his face. Clarke noticed as well, and she realised how much she was hurting him. "but if we go" she said "we have to bring back up"

"No way" Aerrow said straight away "we're not bringing guns. Those weren't the terms. If we're going to do this, we need to give it a fair shot. Me and Sara can be our back up. If anything goes wrong we can hold them off"

Clarke recoiled slightly at the mention of Sara's name. They were friends, and Clarke had helped Sara adjust to her new life in those first few days on the ground, but lately she had started feeling a certain amount of jealousy for the younger blonde and how she interacted with Aerrow. She sighed. "okay" she eventually said "Okay, I'll get my bag and meet you, Finn and Sara at the gate"

Aerrow nodded, and watched her head off in the direction of her tent, before walking off himself to find Sara. Convincing her to come was easy. Unlike Clarke, she was all for the idea of a peaceful interaction between the 100 and the grounders. Plus, if something went wrong, she kind of wanted an opportunity to test her skills properly against something that was actually going to try and kill her.

Aerrow made her leave her weapons behind, along with his own, keeping his promise with Lincoln. Finn was waiting at the gate when Sara and Aerrow walked up. Clarke joined them a few minutes later and they headed off to the meeting point, all of them except Clarke unaware that they were being followed.


	25. Chapter 25

**This chapter as well as the next one to some extent is really decisive in terms of what happens in the way Aerrow feels about his current situation. At the moment he is completely against war with the grounders, although I am trying to position him to have to fight, in accordance to how I think the actual show is going. I cannot wait to draft episode 11 for this reason! In the meantime, in this chapter we also see some background to why the grounders did what they did to Aerrow and why they gave him his tattoos and we see what Aerrow is willing to do to protect the people he cares about, as well as who he loves the most in times of danger. This episode and the next one really set Aerrow up for the final episodes.**

They were delayed slightly due to Finn's stab wound causing him to stop and rest several times, but eventually they met Octavia on the old decrepit bridge that they had designated as the meeting point. The grounders had not yet arrived.

Clarke stared at Aerrow and then Octavia "so that's how you set this up" she said somewhat sourly "you helped him escape, didn't you?"

Octavia held her ground and returned the glare "I trust him, Clarke"

"there's a lot of that going around" Clarke replied, deliberately turning to face Aerrow

Aerrow said nothing. He was more focussed on the muffled sound of the rustling of leaves. The others didn't seem to notice it but in his time in solitary, Aerrow had not just honed his skills, he had also honed his senses. "Someone's coming" he said, just before Lincoln came jogging out of the forest on the other side of the bridge.

Octavia ran towards him, and they met with a tight embrace in the centre of the bridge. After he and Octavia separated, Lincoln saw both Clarke and Sara, and recognised them as being among those who had tortured him and he stared menacingly at them. Sara stood her ground but Clarke was less confident and started to back away. Seeing this, Aerrow grabbed her hand and held it in his, giving her the re-assurance she needed.

The tense standoff was interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps echoing through the trees, too heavy and too fast to be human footsteps. Moments later, a group of grounders also emerged from the trees, riding horses. Clarke gasped in excitement at the sight of them.

Aerrow wasn't interested in the horses, he was interested in the grounders riding them. They all wore their intimidating masks, and they variously carried swords, spears and bows. The bows were not quite as intricately carved as Aerrow's and only made out of wood, but still effective weapons. The fact that they had them also showed that the grounders had broken the agreement to not bring any weapons, and that they did not trust the 100, which they had every right not to.

Finn noticed too. "hey we said no weapons!" he shouted, running up alongside Lincoln. "I was told there wouldn't be" he replied.

"It's too late now" Clarke said, turning to look at Aerrow. He looked back at her and together they made to walk forward to meet the grounders, only to be stopped by Lincoln, who grabbed Aerrow and told him that Clarke had to go alone. Although he wasn't comfortable with this agreement, Aerrow knew that it had to happen if they wanted peace.

Aerrow faced Clarke "I'll be fine" she said

"Clarke-"

"hey" she cut him off "its time to do better". Aerrow nodded at her, letting her go

The lead grounder, a woman, got off her horse and walked towards Clarke. She had a sunken face with tired looking features, but her eyes displayed a fierceness that told Aerrow that this woman was not to be underestimated.

As Clarke waked towards her to greet her, Finn tapped Aerrow on the shoulder and said "It's time". Aerrow turned to face him, and nodded, before facing the grounders once more and removing his shirt, revealing his tattoos to them. It was a ploy thought up by Aerrow to maybe show the grounders that he had been made one of them and that they could at least trust him. He actually didn't mind anymore who saw his scars. He had gotten over how he had got them and no longer really cared, plus Sara had once told him that combined with the tattoos, they actually accentuated his appearance; that he looked truly like a warrior.

Clarke and the woman met in the middle of the bridge, and stood there for a moment, sizing each other up.

"your name is Clarke?" the female grounder eventually spoke and a voice that radiated confidence and authority. Clarke nodded nervously. "I'm Anya" she continued. Clarke made to shake hands with her but she did not move, causing Clarke to quickly move her hand back down to her side. Aerrow could tell from the body language of the two women that Anya would very much be in charge of this conversation.

Still, it was Clarke who spoke next. "I think we got off to a rough start" she said "but we want to find a way to live together, in peace"

Anya raised her eyebrows, as if she was amused by what Clarke had just said. "I understand" she said "you started a war that you don't know how to end"

"what? No. we didn't start anything. You attacked us for no reason"

"No reason?" Anya raised her voice "the missiles you launched burned a village to the ground"

"the flares?" Clarke said in disbelief "No. that was a signal, meant for our families. We had no idea-"

"you're invaders" Anya cut her off, in complete control "your ship landed in our territory"

"we didn't know anyone was here" Clarke said, trying to regain at least some influence "we thought the ground was un-inhabited"

"you knew we were here after you sent an armed raiding party to capture one of us and torture him"

"yeah well that was only after you did the same to one of us!" Clarke shouted, sick of being intimidated.

Anya didn't flinch. She noticed Aerrow for the first time, noticed his scars and the black tattoos the grounders had given him in that cave. She had been told about him, how he had survived the snake venom ritual. He was stronger than the others. Different, too, which was why their most powerful warrior had brought him into their ranks, given him the unique tattoos and the only bow of its kind and taught him how to use it with such great effectiveness. He was special.

"so he's the one with the strength, the one we call _Naja_" Anya said slowly, looking at Aerrow. Aerrow heard her and looked at her fiercely. He wasn't trying to be threatening, but if she was going to include him in this, he needed to show her that he wasn't going to be intimidated as easily as Clarke.

"Naja? what?" Clarke said, not understanding

"It means Cobra, a warrior. His skills are legendary. What he can do has been prophesised since the ancient times. He is the only one among you who is not willing to destroy us. Instead, he wishes to work with us. He has honour. Something the rest of you do not share. Since you came here, you have destroyed one of our villages, trespassed into our most sacred land, captured one of us and tortured him. These are all acts of war"

Clarke resigned to herself. She had been defeated, but she was still going to try and get something from this meeting. "I see your point" she said "that's why we need to put an end to all of this"

Anya stood with her arms crossed, still not convinced of Clarke's true intentions "Lincoln said there are more of you coming down. Warriors. And not ones like N_aja_"

"the guard, yes" Clarke said. "but also farmers, doctors, engineers. We can help each other. But not if we're at war"

Anya paused for a moment, before saying "can you promise that these new arrivals won't attack us? That they'll respect the terms you and I agree on"

Clarke paused. Aerrow closed his eyes. This was the defining point. Both he and Clarke knew that the guard would very likely not listen to anything that they said, and would start a war anyway.

"I promise I will do everything I can to convince them to honour the terms that we set"

Anya tilted her head down disapprovingly at Clarke. She knew it as well. "why would I agree to an alliance that your people can break the moment they get here?"

Clarke said nothing.

Aerrow meanwhile detected the faintest sound of a branch snapping. Surreptitiously, he angled his head so he could see where the noise came from. At first he saw nothing but then he looked a little harder and spotted, hidden in the trees, multiple grounders, all with their bows and arrows as well as their spears aimed at Clarke and the others, himself included. The lack of weapons was not the only agreement for the meeting that they had broken, and Aerrow started getting a very bad feeling about the entire thing.

He silently reached behind him for his knife, but found only his empty holster. Aerrow cursed silently. He had left it back at the camp in order to honour the terms of the meeting. He thought it was a good idea at the time, but was now starting to regret his decision.

"If you fire the first shot" Clarke eventually said "those people coming down won't bother negotiating. Our technology… they will wipe you out"

Anya was unfazed by Clarkes threat "they wouldn't be the first to try" she said menacingly, rendering Clarke speechless

"CLARKE RUN!" a voice came shouting from somewhere behind them. Aerrow whirled around and saw Jasper running out of the tree line at the base of the bridge. He held a gun in his hands and the moment he had a clear shot, he opened fire.

"NO!" Aerrow screamed as the air was suddenly filled with arrows, spears and bullets. Clarke had betrayed him, and gone to Bellamy and told him to bring back up and the guns. Aerrow could not believe her actions, but he didn't have time to evaluate them at that moment.

Anya drew a dagger from the arm of her coat and made to stab Clarke. Aerrow was faster though. He picked up a stick from the ground and although it wasn't weighted properly at all, he still threw it with perfect accuracy into Anya's hand, causing her to drop the knife and turn away, grunting in pain.

"Clarke, get down, Sara, get the others to safety" Aerrow shouted, taking control. Acting on instinct, he raced forward and grabbed Clarke, yanking her out of the way of an arrow before whipping his hand up and catching another. He threw it back at its shooter, and it impacted the grounder in the chest.

Aerrow pulled Clarke along with him as they ran for the end of the bridge. Anya meanwhile got back on her horse and rode off with the others, but not before one of them fired off one last arrow.

Urged by Lincoln who was forced to run himself, Clarke, Aerrow, Finn and Octavia all ran for the trees, making it to cover. Sara made to follow them but the final arrow shot by the grounder hit her in her right thigh, piercing her skin and protruding out the other side of her leg. She went down with a shriek and was unable to stand up as the remaining grounders closed in on her.

Aerrow was racing through the trees back to the camp when he noticed something was wrong. He stopped the others. "hey, where's-" he started

A scream cut through the forest. It was originating back at the bridge. Aerrow realised that one person in their group was missing.

"Sara" he breathed in horror

"get back to the camp" he shouted, before taking off back in the direction of the bridge.

Clarke screamed at him not to but he ignored her. What was happening was all because of her. If she hadn't gone to Bellamy, none of this would be happening, and Sara wouldn't be in danger right now. If something happened to her, he would never forgive Clarke, or himself for that matter. So he ran. He ran as fast as he could, away from the others and back towards the bridge.

Aerrow sprinted out of the trees and saw Sara lying helplessly on the bridge, an arrow through her thigh, with three grounders standing over her. She was trying her best to fight them off, and for a while had managed to successfully fend off their attacks, but against the more skilful grounders, without a weapon and unable to walk, it was very much a losing battle. At the sight of Aerrow, two of the grounders gathered their weapons and headed over to face him.

Aerrow never stopped moving. As he came up to the first grounder, who held a bow with an arrow aimed at him, Aerrow knocked the bow up and slammed the side of his hand into the grounders forearm, breaking both of the bones in it, before grabbing the grounder by his broken arm and the back of his neck and tossing him over the edge of the bridge and down onto the rocks below.

Before he had thrown the grounder over, Aerrow had taken his bow with the arrow still notched on the draw string. He sprinted towards the second grounder, who was still advancing towards him. Aerrow grabbed the railing of the bridge and jumped into the air, launching himself horizontally at the oncoming grounder. Aerrow put one of his legs against the grounders stomach, and one on his back, before rolling his body, flipping the grounder over.

Aerrow tumbled forward and back onto his feet as his roll brought him down next to the grounder and he fired the arrow directly into the grounder's eye, killing him instantly.

Aerrow stood to see the third and final grounder draw a knife from his belt and hold it over Sara's defenceless body, ready to kill her.

Aerrow had no arrows left and was still about 10 metres away. He was not going to let Sara die. He couldn't. He had nothing in his possession to disarm the grounder, but that didn't mean he was done trying.

He saw the grounder pin Sara's struggling arms by her side and raise the knife, preparing to bring it down into her chest and kill her. Aerrow knew that if he didn't do something Sara would die.

With a primeval cry of pure rage, Aerrow hurtled towards the grounder, taking the man by surprise. Before the grounder could do anything, Aerrow ploughed into him, tackling the man by his waist and driving him into the ground.

The grounder kicked Aerrow clear and got to his feet just as Aerrow launched another at him. In a highly advanced martial arts move that he had spent months practising, Aerrow swung his body around the grounder's, eventually bringing Aerrow back to a standing position with the grounder bent over backwards in a headlock.

"Just. You. Try. To kill her" Aerrow hissed at the grounder, before brutally and mercilessly snapping his neck.

Aerrow stood up to his full height again, and let the lifeless body of the grounder fall to the ground before walking over to Sara, who was still lying on the ground, whimpering at the pain of the arrow through her thigh. He crouched down beside her and she sat up and hugged him tightly, staring at the grounder lying 2 metres away from her, blood coming from his mouth and with his neck at an obscure right angle to his body. "It's ok" he said, stroking her hair "its over, you're safe now"

"Are you alright?" Aerrow asked her. Although she was in pain, Sara nodded. She felt safe now that Aerrow was by her side, protecting her.

Seeing as she couldn't walk, Aerrow picked her up easily and held her small frame in his arms and started carrying her away from the bridge and back to safety. He held her close to his bare chest – his shirt had fallen off the bridge in the melee and he couldn't be bothered to retrieve it - and she could feel the strong pounding of his heartbeat. She let her head rest against him and she wrapped her arms around his neck as he carried her. After a while, Sara noticed that they were not heading in the direction of the main camp. "this isn't the way back" she said "where are we going?"

"somewhere else" Aerrow replied.


	26. Chapter 26

**This chapter was actually one of the most difficult for me to write, because I really wanted to get the descriptions of the scenes, emotions and interactions between characters depicted in this chapter exactly the way I wanted them to be. I had to read a lot of other fanfic stories from both 'the 100' and 'arrow' to gain ideas, but I tried my hardest not to blatantly copy anyone's work. I can't exactly reveal anything about this chapter without giving the entire things away other than it picks up where the previous chapter left off and I have been building up to this chapter for a long time. This chapter also has major ramifications for the future (probably up until the end of the series of the actual show) and I understand if not everyone is happy with the way this chapter pans out. However, it is my story and I write with my ideas and make things the way I want to make them in conjunction with the actual storyline of the show.**

Aerrow found the entrance just as the darkness of night enveloped them.

He carefully supported the limping Sara down the tunnel and eventually, they emerged into the underground cavern Aerrow had discovered on the night he went off on his own.

Aerrow quickly re-lit his fire from a few days before, and leant Sara against the nearby wall so he could examine the arrow that was still lodged in her thigh.

"how bad is it?" she asked him, her voice surprisingly calm

"not as bad as it could have been" he replied, looking up at her "Luckily, it's gone all the way through and hasn't hit any vital tissue or blood vessels. Still, you'll be unable to walk properly for about a week"

Before she could reply, Aerrow handed her some of the herbs from the grounder, the same ones he himself had taken on his first night in the cave. "eat these" he said "they'll help with the pain"

"what?"

"I need to remove the arrow. This is going to hurt"

Sara swallowed the herbs, and Aerrow grabbed the arrow and started pulling it out of her leg. Sara clenched her teeth and squealed in pain as Aerrow slowly manoeuvred the arrow out of her thigh, being extra careful not to cause any more damage. The herbs helped slightly, but Sara was in absolute agony for every single second, and breathed a massive sigh of relief when the arrow finally came out.

"there" Aerrow said gently "done. It's out"

He put some soft moss over the wound to stop the bleeding as well as any chance of the wound becoming infected. Since he had no shirt or knife to cut it with, Aerrow bandaged the moss against her thigh with some long leaves he had found outside. When he was finished, Sara finally had the chance to look around and admire the beautiful location she was in.

"where are we?" she asked, staring in wonder at the hundreds of glow worms on the roof of the cave, illuminating the bright blue water in the lake.

"I found it a few nights ago, when I was out on my own. Beautiful, isn't it"

"I'll say" Sara replied

"you feel like going for a swim?" Aerrow asked, noticing her staring at the water

"sure, but what about my leg?"

"it'll be fine. The water is full of salts and minerals, they'll actually help the healing process"

Sara didn't need any more convincing and within moments they were both splashing around in the water. They continued laughing and frolicking around for another 15 minutes or so until they eventually found themselves standing up in the centre of the lake, facing each other, staring into each other's eyes. Sara had one hand on the back of his neck and Aerrow's hands were on her hips.

Aerrow stared at her smiling face, with her scattered freckles and the small dimple in her chin that he had come to find extremely cute. The water had made her shirt cling to her body, accentuating her curves and muscles. Looking at her face and body, Aerrow saw for the first time since he met her just how beautiful she actually was. He saw the look on her face: the happy, uncaring look that she had when he first met her. Except this time there was something more: love. For him.

It startled Aerrow slightly at the realisation and he broke the moment off, instead heading back to the shoreline, hopping out and sitting beside the warm fire.

Soon, Sara came over to join him and they sat in silence as they dried off.

Aerrow thought about Clarke once more, just as he had done a few nights prior. Except this time he knew exactly what to think. Clarke had ruined everything. If they weren't at war with the grounders already, they without doubt were now. Once again, Clarke had betrayed his trust, except this time it was worse. This time there was no getting it back. He decided to try and forget about all that for the time being and instead he concentrated on Sara. He glanced at her, shivering slightly in the cold night air despite the fire, and in that moment, his heart went out to her.

"you know" he said "you never did tell me how you got arrested in the first place"

Sara shuddered slightly "it happened only a few months before the drop ship was launched" she said, her voice distant "I had spent over a year and a half trying to find out who had murdered Arianna and why, but I'd found nothing. I had given up hope when I met a guy who told me he would tell me everything I wanted to know if I gave him something in return"

"what was that?" Aerrow asked

"me" Sara said, pausing and looking up at him. Aerrow understood what she meant instantly. "I was still 15, and there was no way I was ever going to do that, so when I said no he tried to have his way with me anyway. I tried to run away but he grabbed me and held me to the floor. I saw a syringe lying on the ground. I had no idea what was in it but I stabbed him with it and injected the contents and within minutes he was dead. The next thing I knew I was in the skybox for murder"

Aerrow didn't know what to say. He looked at her face again and saw that, as strong as she had become, there was still a trace of vulnerability in her that she had retained from the Ark. He realised she had been through a crucible of her own, and now he fully understood why she wanted to be like him. It wasn't just to protect others, it was to protect herself as well.

Aerrow faced away and looked down at the ground, where he remained for the next few minutes. Eventually, he stood up and stared at the wall, his back turned to Sara, still trying to come to terms with his own problems, which Sara picked up on. She got to her feet as well and hobbled over to him.

"are you ok?" she asked him

Aerrow sighed. He wanted to give her an answer, but he knew in his heart that even he didn't know if he was okay. "I will be" he sighed "eventually"

"what happened today wasn't your fault"

"I'm not saying it is. I just tried so hard to prevent a war with the grounders and now we have no choice. All because Clarke didn't trust me, went to Bellamy and brought him along as back up we didn't need"

"everything will be ok" Sara said, trying to make him feel better "you and Clarke will be ok"

"Clarke and I are over" Aerrow said quickly and firmly "after what she did today, I can never forgive her. I can never trust her again which is why I can never be with her again"

"I'm sorry" Sara said

"don't be" Aerrow replied, swinging himself around slowly to face her "In the end, we are all prisoners, Sara. The only real question is: what do we choose as our walls?"

Aerrow looked down at her, and she returned the gaze. In that instant, all of Aerrow's feelings came to a head as he thought of Clarke, Arianna, Dylan, the grounders, the near certain war and finally Sara.

In that moment, Aerrow was unable to stop himself from leaning down and kissing the beautiful girl in front of him, just as he had done on the first day he had met her. This time though, they did not break apart. Instead, Sara wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss, pressing her body against his.

Aerrow knew things were about to get serious between them, and, as much as he didn't want to, he forced himself to break away from her, remembering that she was still only 16, as well as what she had told him about what had happened to her on the Ark. It wasn't that he did not want to be with her, he just wanted to make sure she wanted the same thing.

Sara stared at him, longing in her eyes. She had never done anything like this before, and she wasn't entirely certain she was ready, but she was sure that she wanted it to be him, Aerrow Eroxin, and nobody else.

She pulled her shirt over her head, revealing herself to him and they resumed their kiss, wrapping their arms around each other and pulling each other as close as they could. That first kiss all those days ago had been an innocent peck, this was more. It was heated, driven by emotion, describing what words couldn't how they felt at that moment. They clung to each other, desperate for each other as their emotions surged through them.

Without removing his lips from hers even once, Aerrow lifted Sara up, her legs wrapping around his waist as he carried her over to the platform of moss he had made on his first night in the cave. They practically collapsed into it, and quickly stripped out of the rest of their clothes.

The feeling of Aerrow inside her was like nothing Sara had ever experienced. The closest she had come to what she was doing now had been that time on the Ark, except nothing had actually happened then and what did happen was rough and unwelcome, nothing like what she felt right now. It had hurt at first but the pain was soon replaced by pleasure. Aerrow was strong and gentle, and he seemed to know exactly what she wanted and when to back off. She was in heaven.

A faint rumble and the boom of an explosion could be heard off in the distance but neither Aerrow nor Sara noticed it.

They were too wrapped in in the moment, in each other, only caring about what was going on between them then and there, in the cave. As Aerrow kissed and caressed Sara's body, sending waves of pleasure shooting through her, the realisation dawned on him that they were truly meant for each other. He had genuinely cared for Clarke, but Sara was the one he was destined to be with.

Aerrow and Sara. Together that night, together in battle, together in their feelings. Together always and forever.


	27. Chapter 27

**Ok, just to clarify a few things: I understand that some of you may not be happy with how I took the story in the last chapter but I can now explain why I did. First of all, I loved the Oliver/Sara pairing in 'Arrow' and when I originally decided to write a fanfic, that was what I was going to write about, but then the 'Arrow' universe became too complicated to write about those two in the way I wanted to. Then I discovered 'The 100', and I was able to create original characters of my own with similar properties to those two, and then put them in the '100' universe, which actually suits their characterisation much better, and I progressed from there. For those of you who enjoy/prefer Aerrow with Clarke: rest assured, they are not finished yet! There are several key scenes between those two in future, especially in ep 11, which I am currently having immense fun drafting. **

**I have loved developing Aerrow's character over the course of this story, and he has really taken on a character of his own from the Oliver Queen based one I started with. Sara on the other hand started out very different to the 'Arrow' Sara and I have started her character to make them more similar. Where they end up and where Clarke fits in depends entirely on how the final two episodes play out. **

**I have not included episode 10 in this story because I felt as though, although it was critical in the development of other characters, it was not critical for Aerrow, so the next two chapters focus mainly on Aerrow and Sara, the real underlying mechanics of their relationship and how they figure out where to go from where they currently are. We also learn a little more of Aerrow's backstory in this chapter, and how those events set him up for how he interacts with Sara in this chapter.**

Aerrow had not always been as serious and mature as he was in the present.

_Growing up and going through school, Aerrow had always been one of the popular kids. His rugged good looks and uncaring, joking personality combined with the high esteem he was held in among the other kids for going through guard training as well as ordinary school made him a magnet for anything and everything that went on among the more rebellious, rule breaking teenagers of the Ark._

_Aerrow frequently went to not entirely legal and disguised youth parties with his many friends and did some pretty illegal stuff. He had got drunk on more than one occasion and had also tried various illicit substances in his teenage years on the Ark. Aerrow revelled in his popularity and was always willing to show off or tell some stories from guard school to his compatriots. _

_Aerrow changed his ways slightly though when he met Arianna. She had transferred into one of his normal classes one day and immediately had an effect on him. They grew closer through school and were dating in the matter of weeks. Her friendly nature brought out the underlying seriousness in him that Aerrow had been instilled with since he was very young by his parents, and he started spending less time being how he used to be and started changing into a more caring person._

_That said, Aerrow never fully forgot his old self. One night, he snuck out of his quarters where he and Arianna were meant to be studying for an exam and instead went to Dylan Joyce's 16__th__ birthday party. He had sex for the first time that night. It had been and alcohol fuelled flash with a complete stranger and Aerrow couldn't even recall what happened in the following days. All he knew was that he had betrayed Arianna and the guilt of his actions haunted him for months afterwards. _

_Aerrow tried to keep it a secret from her but could eventually not bear it any longer, and one day he broke down in front of her and told her what had done. He was expecting her to leave him but instead she took his hand in hers and said "my philosophy in life is: don't regret anything you do. Because, in the end, it makes you who you are". Aerrow was amazed by her kindness and what she thought of him. He vowed to never do anything like that again and instead devoted himself to her. He helped her study for her school exams, he crafted his staff and knife with her and he made love to her more than once. Aerrow thought he had found the one he would spend the rest of his life with, only to have her taken from him a few weeks later._

The memories of what he had used to be flashed across Aerrow's mind as he lay on the moss in the cave with Sara lying pressed against his side, her skin soft and warm against his, mindlessly tracing slow and soft circles around his muscular chest with her finger. It was early in the morning. So early in fact that the sun had not even risen yet. They had both slept soundly the previous night but they had both woken early, not wanting the unconscious state of sleep to keep them separate from each other any longer.

Aerrow opened his eyes and he saw Sara lying next to him, partially on top of him. Her long blonde hair flowed over her shoulders and over her back and her face was illuminated in the soft light of the glow worms on the roof. She looked like an angel. "morning" Sara's voice was soft as it echoed around the cave. "morning" Aerrow whispered back, sitting up and kissing her. Her lips and skin were soft against his touch and her body conformed perfectly to his, the rises and dips of their bodies fitting together like the opposing pieces of an intimate jigsaw.

Eventually, they had to break apart and Aerrow re-lit the fire to give some warmth to the cold night air of the cave. Aerrow put his clothes back on, as did Sara and Aerrow checked the wound in her leg. It was starting to heal already. He replaced the leaf bandages and he got her to eat the rest of the herbs so she could at least walk again for short periods of time.

Sara sat with her back to Aerrow as she sat next to the fire, trying to get as much warmth from it as possible. She wanted to stay down in the cave forever with him, but knew deep down that they would eventually need to return to the camp. With war imminent with the grounders, she knew that she and Aerrow would be needed to fight them off. Strangely though, she actually was looking forward to that moment. She realised that this was the first time she had thought about fighting the grounders and not being worried about the outcome. Her feeling and fears had been changed since the previous night, and she found herself with a new found confidence. She believed that she was good enough to take down at least one or two of the grounders and knew that with Aerrow's help she was only going to get better. She drew her strength from Aerrow, using his strength and confidence to her own advantage. He was her rock, her anchor, her escape from her fears and doubts.

As she noticed the first rays of dawn filtering down into the cave, she turned around to face him, only to find the cave empty. Sara quickly got to her feet and left the cave. At the entrance, she saw the slight changes of colour in the grass and dirt: footprints left by what could only have been a human. They were headed up to the top of the hill so she decided to follow them.

Aerrow stood at his vantage point on top of the hill, watching the sun poke over the horizon and fill the landscape with light. The light reflected off his shirtless body, illuminating his muscles, scars and tattoos in an attractive golden glow. He stared at the sunrise with a blank, stoic expression on his face and the wind blew his hair to the side of his head and partly across his face.

Sara came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, feeling the chiselled bumps of his abs and standing on the tips of her toes so she could rest her chin on his shoulder.

Aerrow turned his head slightly and moved his arm up to grasp her shoulder with his hand. "there are so many nights, so many moments that you can just spend with someone, anyone, and you just feel like it will last a lifetime when in reality it's only a night, it's only a moment" he spoke up gently but evenly, not facing her but directing his words at her.

Sara didn't fully understand "what does that mean?" she asked him

"It means that nothing, no matter how much you want it to, will last forever. They are only moments, snap shots in your life"

Sara looked a little dejected, as if she thought he was taking what happened last night as something in the past, something to be forgotten about. It was far from what he meant. Turning around and stroking her cheek, he finished his sentence "but those snapshots can add up to a lifetime. And that is what makes them so special"

Sara smiled and they both watched the sun rise up into the sky. "so, what do we do now?" she asked him eventually.

Aerrow turned around to face her. "I don't know" he sighed "The best thing we can do for now is stay here until your leg heals, then we'll have to head back to the camp. Thanks to Clarke and her paranoia about the grounders, we're most certainly going to be at war now" the final sentence came out more coldly than Aerrow had wanted it to.

"we don't have very many bullets as far as I know, certainly not enough to hold off the entire grounder army. It's going to have to be up to you and me to face them head on. Are you ready for that?" he continued, looking at Sara directly in her eyes, in the most serious look she had ever seen him give her, and the full reality of her situation hit home.

"do you think I'm ready?" Sara asked him.

Aerrow said nothing. He just gave her one, single, solid nod, settling any and all of her lingering doubts with that one gesture, before turning to walk back down to the cave.

Aerrow had to carry Sara back down to the cave, her injured leg too painful to walk on. He sat her down against the wall of the cave, before moving to head back out. "where are you going?" she asked him.

"I just need to pick up a few things from the camp" he said "It's a fair way so I should be gone for most of the day, but I'll be back before nightfall"

"okay" Sara said before Aerrow disappeared up the tunnel and headed back to camp.

Aerrow jogged back to the camp. It was indeed a fair way, at least 5 miles, but Aerrow had been building up his fitness ever since getting on the ground, and was able to jog at a steady pace the entire way back without even breaking a sweat. Eventually, he saw the outskirts of the camp and his shelter off to the side.

He walked over to it and retrieved his knife, staff and bow from his shelter. He also put on another shirt he had found as well as his old light brown leather jacket. He hadn't worn it in a long time and just the feeling of putting it on again made him feel a little bit more whole.

Aerrow then headed up to the camp to get some of the food rations to take back to the cave. He snuck around the tents on the way over to the building where all the rations were kept in. He didn't know why, but he was extra careful not to be spotted by anyone. He guessed it was because he still did not want anything to do with Clarke. It was slightly strange that he hadn't heard or seen either her or Bellamy. He figured they were probably planning something in the drop ship. Aerrow wasn't complaining. He knew he would have to confront Clarke eventually, but now was not the time, he needed to let everything settle down before telling her everything, how he escaped the grounders, how things were over between them and, of course, he and Sara…

That said, deep down, part of Aerrow wanted to find Clarke, just for the pleasure that being around her gave him. He did not even try to deny he still had feelings for her. He just couldn't be with her.

The teenage part of Aerrow that somehow still lingered wondered for a brief instant if it would be possible to be in a relationship with both Clarke and Sara at the same time. Aerrow shook the thought from his head. He needed to focus. He quietly exited the camp and headed off back in the direction of the cave

Finding it again was a little trickier than Aerrow though it would be, but Aerrow followed the tiny trail of pebbles he had strategically placed on the way back earlier that day, leaving symbols only he would recognise and be able to follow. Eventually, Aerrow found the familiar trickle of water and faint carving on the rock beside it, and he shimmied his way down through the small, concealed hole in the ground and down into the cave.

Sara was sitting beside the small fire in the cave. On seeing him she got to her feet and limped over to him, her injured leg clearly still causing her discomfort. She wrapped her arms around him and he did the same, pulling her close in a tight embrace. In that moment, Aerrow was able to forget the complicated situation he was in.

"I brought you some stuff" he said when they broke apart. They walked over and sat down next to the fire. Aerrow handed her her knife as well as the food rations he had taken from the camp.

"thanks" she said, taking the knife and feeling the familiar weight of the metal in her hand. It made her feel a bit safer. All through the day she had been slightly worried about what she would do if a group of grounders discovered her. From everything she had observed, she was not as good as the grounders in a straight up fight and she had the further disadvantage of being unable to walk and without a weapon.

"how's your leg" Aerrow asked her

"it feels better, but it's still really sore and I can't walk for more than 50 metres or so" she replied

Aerrow nodded his head once, before removing the leaf bandages and the moss. The wound definitely looked better than it had the previous night, but it was still quite severe and nowhere near fully healed yet. It did not have any signs of infection at least, which Aerrow put down to the antiseptic properties of the iodine in the moss as well as whatever was in the herbs.

Aerrow pulled out some cloth he had taken from the drop ship. Using his knife, he cut it into long strips, making far better bandages than the leaves. "Did you catch up with Clarke" Sara asked as Aerrow finished tying the new bandages around her leg.

Aerrow paused, before sitting up in front of her "no. I didn't see her at all" he said quietly

Sara didn't say anything. Aerrow decided to be honest with her. It was somehow easier than being honest with Clarke, perhaps because Sara was better at understanding and accepting how he felt about things. "I still love her, Sara" He said, causing her to look up at him "I just want you to understand that" he grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

"why did you want to know if I spoke to Clarke anyway?"

Sara shrugged "no real reason" she took a deep breath "I guess that maybe for now at least we should keep, you know… you and me… a secret, for Clarke's sake"

Aerrow nodded "I get that" he said. He wondered if he would actually be able to lie to Clarke at all. He was always going to tell her, he just didn't know when.

Sara sighed "I just wish that we would never have to leave this place. That life would move slower, we would never grow up, that nothing could ever tear us apart"

Aerrow held his palm up facing her. She did the same, putting the palm of her hand against his, and they entwined their fingers "This is our story" Aerrow said looking straight into her eyes, his own shining in a radiant purple "Our story that we can take back someday. Our lonely glory, that we can keep forever"

Aerrow put his other hand on the back of her neck and pressed his lips to hers. They lay down on the ground and kissed long into the night.


	28. Chapter 28

**This chapter is where Aerrow's timeline rejoins with the actual timeline. As I stated in the previous chapter, these latest chapters revolving around Aerrow and Sara where put in to first of all create and interlude between episodes 9 and 11 but also to set Aerrow up for the massive plot developments I have planned for the final three episodes. All I will reveal for now is that things as they currently are between Aerrow, Clarke and Sara will not remain the same!**

**For now though Aerrow is drawn back to the camp by the bomb blast and has to reconcile with Clarke about where he has been since the failed bridge meeting. Their interaction at their reunion is written the way it is to try and create tension and set the two up for how their relationship progresses in future chapters.**

They spent the next few days alone in the cave, enjoying the simple company of one another. They spent the time variously sleeping, swimming in the lake and just being with each other in general. They ate food from the rations Aerrow had taken from the camp and drank from a trickle of water seeping from the roof of the cave. Aerrow knew it was clean because it had filtered down through the rocks, purifying it.

In amongst all this rest and relaxation, Aerrow continued training both himself and Sara. The fact that she couldn't walk didn't mean she couldn't still fight. Aerrow showed her a wide variety of moves she could perform on one leg. Ordinarily they would have taken a long time to perfect, but Sara had an immaculate, almost perfect sense of balance, just as good as Aerrow's if not better, and as such she was able to nail the moves fairly quickly.

Aerrow also introduced Sara to rock climbing, an activity he had been secretly practising on the rocky outcrop that hid his training area back at the camp. He explained to Sara that the reason for this was the benefits it gave to a fighter. It instilled a great sense of balance and control of every action the body made, as well as learning to accept fear and fight against it, refusing to let go. His fighting skills had strengthened his wrists and fingers massively and as such, and Aerrow was able to climb on the horizontal roof of the cave hanging off of the tiniest of holds by just his fingertips.

Rather predictably, Sara was nowhere near as competent and at first she was barely able to even get off the ground. However, after some more coaching by Aerrow on how to properly hang off the holds and use the proper technique, Sara was able to make her way partly onto the roof, but soon the overhang overwhelmed her and she fell off and into the water. With a little more practise, Sara was able to make it all the way over the horizontal roof and down onto the other side on the easiest holds and she only got better and better, and soon the two had several 'routes' planned out going across the roof, which they practised vigorously until their fingers were stripped of skin.

On their third day in the cave, Aerrow was above ground practising his archery skills. By now he could hit targets at close range with perfect accuracy, but he still needed to get used to long distance shots. He didn't want to admit it, but that arrow he hit and killed Dax with several nights ago had been a massive fluke. Aerrow had been firing at a tree 100 metres away, and had missed every time by at least a metre, if not more.

Aerrow aimed another arrow. He shot again, and missed again. He growled slightly, frustrated. It was like being back in the cave with the grounder all over again.

Sara was sat on a rock next to him, watching on. She was slightly amused by the fact that Aerrow could actually fail at something, which she showed with the grin on her face. "don't worry" she said light heartedly as he missed once again "I'm sure at least some of the grounders will be two metres wide"

Aerrow stopped and turned to face her. If it had come from anyone else he would have been offended, and if it had come from someone he didn't like we would have considered putting an arrow in them but it had come from Sara. He glanced at her, shook his head humorously and grinned himself. She really did bring out the best in him.

He took aim once again and suddenly the tree in the distance came into perfect view, and Aerrow knew exactly where he needed to aim. He smiled with confidence – not smug confidence, the quiet confidence he had engrained in his core, the confidence that drove him to do everything he did, from wrestling giant panthers to jumping off 15 metre high cliffs and fighting off multiple grounders at once.

He was about to release the arrow when a massive explosion rang out about 2 miles away, with the locations of the blast, Aerrow's cave and the camp forming a rough triangular position. The ground shook violently with the shock wave of the blast, and a massive plume of smoke rose up into the air. Both Aerrow and Sara stood and stared at the explosion in amazement for a minute or so, but then Aerrow snapped back to reality. He grabbed Sara's hand and led her back down into the cave with a surprising sense of urgency.

"what are you doing?" she asked him after they were both inside. She noticed him gathering up his weapons.

Aerrow stopped what he was doing and looked directly at her. "I have to get back to the camp" he said "That explosion, it was hydrazine based. Could only have been produced from rocket fuel. My guess is that Raven made up a little surprise for the grounders. I need to go back to camp and find out what happened"

"Take me back with you" she asked him, her eyes pleading at him. Her time in the cave had been amazing, but she was starting to miss being at the camp.

Aerrow averted his gaze and sighed slightly "not yet" he said "your leg's still not fully better and this is the safest place for you to be at the moment.

"But-" she started

Aerrow crouched down in front of her and kissed her lightly and slowly "tomorrow" he said "I promise"

Sara slowly nodded her agreement, and Aerrow stood up and headed for the tunnel

"But Aerrow" she called after him. He stopped and turned to face her "you can't keep me down here forever" she said with a grin on her face

Aerrow returned the grin "I was never planning on it" he said, disappearing into the black hole of the tunnel

Aerrow arrived back in the camp as night was beginning to fall. The first person he sought out was Clarke. He needed to know what had happened with the explosion, what he had missed and he also needed to tell her. Not everything, but at least some stuff. He found her just as she was walking back into the camp

"Clarke" he called out, walking over to her

"Aerrow?" she said with not a small amount of disbelief. She hadn't seen him since the bridge, since he was running back towards the grounders to save Sara. Seeing as he had not returned for 3 days, Clarke had feared the worst. At the sight of him now though, that fear turned to anger "where the hell have you been?" she continued, advancing towards him. Aerrow could tell from the hostility in her voice that this was not going to be a cuddly and forgiving reunion.

"I've been cleaning up your mess" he answered quickly and sternly, stopping her in her tracks. He softened his tone "did you make it back safely?"

Clarke paused for a moment, as if evaluating his thoughts and feeling at that time "yeah" she said "yeah, we made it back ok"

"good"

"what about you?" she continued "No one had seen you for three days. I thought they'd taken you again"

Aerrow scoffed "you really think I'd let them beat me again?" he joked.

"what about Sara?" Clarke asked "is she-"

"She's fine" Aerrow interrupted. Clarke noticed the change in Aerrow's tone instantly. He had gone from being happy and interactive to dark and distant, and Clarke was lost in debate as to why that was. She was reminded of the massive changes in emotion Aerrow was capable of, his intense mixture of light and dark. She was attracted to both sides. The hardened, almost evil part of him forged in the darkness of the Ark, and the part of him that somehow managed to retain some of his older self, his happiness and his love.

Aerrow meanwhile did not want to follow the path the conversation was going down. He felt like he was in the middle of a love triangle he himself had created. He had had lots of experience in many things, but love wasn't exactly one of them. Since being locked up in solitary confinement for two years, he had lost what enabled him to interact fully with others. He was regaining some of that skill, but he still had a long way to go. He did not know what he was going to do about his current situation. He almost wanted to tell Clarke about what he and Sara had done right then and there, but stopped himself. He figured it would be better to reveal things slowly, and when Clarke was less emotional. However, Aerrow did need to tell her at least a little bit of what he felt.

"Clarke he said" his voice distant and quiet "we need to talk"

Clarke noticed the almost pained tone of his voice. "what about?" she asked him

Aerrow took a deep breath. He did not want to have to say this, but he forced himself to "it's over, between us" he said slowly and carefully, trying hard not to sound like too much of an asshole.

Clarke refused to believe him at first. She didn't want to, especially not after what had happened with the drop ship… "what? Why?" she almost stammered.

Aerrow stopped, and put both his hands on her upper arms, in a caring way "Clarke" he said "I love you. I will always love you. But I can't trust you like I used to, not anymore, and I also can't love you in the same way I used to, and that's why I can't be with you"

Clarke didn't know how to reply. She wanted to believe this was like the first time he had told her, the day after they had first got together. However, she could tell that this time he was being genuine. A thousand thoughts, feelings and emotions raced through her mind. She wanted to know why. She knew that he was against guns in camp, and he had told her not to bring guns to the meeting with the grounders, and she could understand why he would be feeling betrayed. But if she hadn't brought guns they all would have been killed by the grounders. She thought he would understand at least that.

"Is this about what happened on the bridge?" she asked him "Look, I'm sorry I lied to you but if I hadn't then we all would have been killed"

Aerrow understood what she was saying. He had seen the grounders in the trees. They had not honoured the terms of the meeting any more than Clarke had. However, there was no telling if they would have actually attacked. "You can't be sure of that, Clarke" he said "Jasper fired the first shot" Aerrow saw the look of sadness in her eyes growing with every word he said, "look, we can talk about this later" he said, trying to sound comforting "what did I miss. I saw the explosion and made it back as quick as I could"

Clarke sighed in despair "too much"

She then showed him the graves of the 14 people who had been killed by some sort of biological weapon that grounders had infected Murphy with, and then allowed him to escape their clutches and find his way back to the camp. Aerrow clenched his jaw at Murphy's name. He had not forgiven him for his previous actions, and was never going to, but Clarke told him that Murphy was different, he was kinder and more caring. Aerrow only partly believed her.

Clarke also told him how they had to stop the grounders attacking, Raven had built a bomb and used it to blow up the same bridge the meeting took place on. Aerrow saw that Clarke was looking dejected

"Something else is bothering you" he asked "something is making you sad"

Clarke shut her eyes "the drop ship my mother was meant to be on launched early. Something went wrong and it crashed. No one had any chance of surviving"

Clarke seemed close to tears, so Aerrow put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to his side. She had discovered that Aerrow had this incredible ability of being able to comfort her and, although they may not have been in a relationship anymore, they did still have feelings for one another so Clarke allowed herself to rest her head on his shoulder and let her worries fade away into the night.


	29. Chapter 29

**This chapter is the beginning of the end of the story for season 1. It sets up everything that happens in later chapters and means that all I need to focus on after this chapter is the events that take place in the final few episodes.**

**In this chapter, I wanted to put doubts in Aerrow's mind about his feelings but also cement them at the same time. In case some of you don't like my portrayal of a certain character (you'll know which one), the only reason I put that scene in and wrote the character that way was to really try and specifically target Aerrow, his feelings and who he is at heart. I also try to explore some of the lighter side of Aerrow and some of the ways he has changed since arriving on the ground.**

Two days later, Aerrow found himself patrolling the boundary of the camp, looking for any sign of retaliation from the grounders for blowing up the bridge. So far he had seen nothing.

He had spent all day yesterday doing exactly the same thing. The entire time he had wanted so badly to be able to get back to the cave and bring Sara back to the camp but had never gotten a chance to. Besides, it was in the interests of the majority that required his presence. They needed him now more than ever.

Aerrow thought back to a particular event the previous day

_He had been patrolling the outer perimeter of the camp along with Bellamy. As they made their way back towards the gate of the camp, Aerrow spied something out of the corner of his eye, and he held his fist up in the guard gesture to stop. _

"_what is it?" Bellamy asked from behind him._

_Aerrow said nothing. He silently drew an arrow and loaded it onto the draw string of his bow, before taking aim at whatever it was he had seen. Bellamy saw the small smile on Aerrow's face and realised what he was aiming at. Bellamy shouted for him to stop but it was too late. The arrow hit the piece of wire and a series of loud clangs rang out all around the perimeter of the camp._

_Bellamy shoved Aerrow backwards "what the hell was that for?" he demanded_

_Aerrow pushed Bellamy away and stared directly into his eyes "next time you guys make a trip wire" he shrugged "be more subtle about it. No grounder is ever going to get caught out by this"_

_Bellamy made to say something but Aerrow interrupted him by holding his hand up, facing back towards the camp, and said loudly "relax, it's just us" just as two boys came running through the trees to investigate what had triggered the trip wire. The lead boy, a short, awkward looking kid with black hair, saw Aerrow and started snickering to himself "Aerrow Eroxin" he stated "caught in our trip wire" he seemed immensely proud of himself and turned and high-fived his friend._

_Aerrow shook his head and smiled. He let them have their momentary illusion of glory before bringing them back down to earth. "not caught" he spoke up, causing the boys to face him again "I disabled it" he gestured to the snapped and useless wire at their feet. The boys looked down at the wire, then back up to him. Aerrow saw one of them gulp slightly._

Aerrow smiled at the memory. He was becoming increasingly aware of how much of a presence he held over the group. He was not their leader, but they still looked up to him and when danger arose, he was the first person they turned to.

Aerrow scowled to himself. That fact bothered him slightly. Everyone seemed to think he was perfect, that there was nothing he couldn't do. Even Sara had once thought that way. Aerrow knew it was wrong. He wasn't perfect. In fact, he was far from it. He made mistakes, just like everyone else. He had failed to stop Bellamy from throwing the radio in the river, which meant he had contributed to the deaths of the 300 people. He still couldn't use his bow and arrow perfectly, and he just knew that the way he was handling the situation between he, Clarke and Sara was going to blow up in his face.

So why did people think he was perfect? Sure, on the physical side of things there wasn't much he couldn't do, but that was only because he had dedicated the last two and a half years of his life to learn and practising those things to get to where he was. Mentally however, Aerrow was far, far from perfect. After what had happened on the Ark Aerrow had lost the part that enabled him to interact with others, and it had also made him extremely mentally unstable. He remembered how he had nearly killed himself because of that very reason. The only thing that stopped him was the mental strength of Clarke. Again, after he had been beaten up by Bellamy, it was only because of Sara that he was able to get his confidence and skill back.

What really bothered him was what would happen if the grounders did attack. Guns or not, everyone else would be relying on him to fend the grounders off, and he wasn't so confident he would be able to do that, not on his own at least. He needed Sara, which reminded him even more of how much he wanted to leave and bring her back to the camp

To take his mind off his doubts, Aerrow walked over to join Clarke at her post, staring out into the forest. Bellamy came over to join them

"hey violet eyes" he said in the same cocky tone he always had "You and Raven finish that new tripwire?"

Aerrow nodded "camouflaged monofilament nylon cord running embedded through sticks, grass and trees rigged to a battery powered monitoring and detection system. No grounder is going to be get past that"

Bellamy nodded "good" he said, turning to Clarke "anything?"

Clarke sighed in response and shook her head "it's been two days. Maybe the bomb at the bridge scared them off for good" she said, which Aerrow did not believe for one second. He knew they would be back. It was just a matter of when. "do you believe that?" Bellamy asked her, obviously thinking the same thing. Clarke grimly shook her head "no" she said simply.

"they're coming" Aerrow said "its just a matter of when"

With that, Bellamy and Clarke walked off to discuss their current situation and what to do about it, leaving Aerrow to watch over the entrance to the camp. He wasn't interested in preventative measures to stop the grounders. He could certainly put plenty of them in, but they would not work. If the grounders decided to attack, Aerrow's biggest use would be his ability to fight them, and he and every single other person in the group knew it. He had sensed the lift in group morale after he had returned, as if his presence gave the others a sense of comfort, which he supposed he did.

Aerrow watched Bellamy and Clarke walk off, before turning his head back to face out into the forest, specifically in the direction of his cave, where Sara was still no doubt waiting for him. He cursed himself, he had promised her he would have brought her back to the camp the day before, and he didn't. He was no better at keeping promises to those he cared about than Clarke was.

Tossing up whether to stay where he was or to go to Sara, Aerrow quickly made his choice: Sara. Always. Someone else could cover his post.

Just as he was about to head back to the cave, he heard panicked shouts of "fire!" coming from the camp.

Aerrow looked back at the camp and saw the tips of flames peeking over the edge of the wall of the camp. He clenched his fist and swore at the incompetence of his fellow group members. Thanks to them he had to once again forget about what he wanted to do in order to protect the greater majority.

He raced back into the camp, to find the wooden building where all the food was kept had gone up in flames. Several people came running out of it, including Octavia and Murphy. Everyone else just gathered around and watched to building burn.

"this is all your fault" Murphy said to the other kid who had run out of the building, before getting to his feet, rushing over to him and trying to bash him. This act made Aerrow even more convinced that Murphy had not changed. He still craved violence. In a way, Aerrow did too, but he was able to contain it.

Aerrow and Bellamy acted quickly. Bellamy held Murphy away while Aerrow held the other kid. "STOP! Save it for the grounders!" Bellamy shouted at them

"Bell now what the hell are we going to do?" Octavia shouted over the roaring of the flames "that was all the food!"

Some members of the group tried foolishly to put the fire out with some buckets of water but succeeded only in getting their eyebrows singed off by the resulting steam. No one tried this tactic again. All the group could do was stand and watch their food burn.

When the flames had died down, Bellamy and Aerrow surveyed the extent of the damage. In short, nothing was left, only a few bones of the animals that had been stored in the building

"any idea what happened?" Aerrow asked him

"Murphy says that Dal kept feeding the fire. Mostly because Octavia told him it was a bad idea"

"well that's what happens when 80 or so juvenile delinquents try to co-exist. Morons just have to break the rules" Aerrow said slightly sarcastically, causing Bellamy to scoff slightly. Aerrow didn't know why, but he found himself not hating Bellamy as much anymore. He had changed, and now cared much more for the well-being of the group as a whole.

"do we even believe Murphy?" Aerrow continued

"I do, yeah" Bellamy nodded. It was a big statement, and Aerrow realised that Murphy had to have changed at least a little bit for Bellamy to say what he just had.

"we have some wild onions and nuts in the drop ship, but it's only enough to last us maybe one or two weeks" Clarke said, coming over to join them. Aerrow ran his hand through his hair. This was just what they needed with the grounders coming. "what's left here?" Clarke continued

Aerrow gestured to the black ashes of what was once the building. "Nothing" Bellamy said simply as he stood up "It all burned"

Aerrow stood up as well and considered his options. They could either live off nuts and onions for a week, which would not be pleasant, or they could get more food immediately, before the grounders inevitably showed up. In the end, it was a simple choice. "then we have to hunt" He said, drawing questioning looks from both Bellamy and Clarke "anyone we can spare goes out" he finished, walking off to gather some weapons.

Bellamy grabbed his arm "with the whole grounder army out there?" he argued, looking at Aerrow like he was insane, which he perhaps was in a way.

"we can't defend ourselves if we're starving" Aerrow countered firmly, pulling his arm out of Bellamy's grip. He glanced at Clarke, who nodded her agreement to his plan.

Bellamy needed no further convincing, and 20 minutes later about 30 people were gathered in the drop ship gathering weapons and preparing to go out hunting.

Bellamy directed the proceedings. "we go in groups of no less than two, no more than 4" he outlined "each group takes someone with a gun. They are for killing grounders, not food, we don't have the ammo! Use the spears for hunting. Get what you can and be back by nightfall. No-one stays out after dark" Bellamy wasn't taking any chances.

While Bellamy was organising the others, Aerrow quickly walked down to his old shelter (which he hadn't actually slept in for about two weeks) to load his quiver with arrows due to the fact that lost most of his old ones firing at the tree near the cave.

He had his back turned to the path leading up to the camp when he heard the footsteps of someone coming up behind him. Assuming it was Clarke, he turned around, only to find Raven instead standing in front of him, a slightly sheepish look on her face.

"Raven?" he asked, perplexed "what are you doing here?"

Raven pursed her lips, and paused before answering "I need your help"

"what with?"

Another pause

"getting over Finn"

"Finn? Why?" Aerrow was becoming more and more confused. What had happened between her and Finn while he was gone, and how exactly was he going to be of any help to her in getting over him as she put it.

"He's in love with Clarke. I can't handle it any more"

"Clarke?" Aerrow was now beyond confused. Finn in love with Clarke? Sure, it seemed possible, and when they had first arrived on the ground the two were drawn together, but Aerrow had never even considered the possibility of Finn being in love with Clarke, especially not after Aerrow got in a relationship with her. Aerrow wasn't sure exactly how to feel. He had broken up with Clarke so she was available, but Aerrow still felt something along the lines of uneasiness for some reason at the thought of Finn getting with her.

"Yes, Clarke" Raven said, bringing him back to reality "now are you going to help me or not?"

"Okay" Aerrow said a little reluctantly "but how?"

"like this" Raven said, before leaning in to kiss him.

Aerrow reacted straight away. He had not known exactly what Raven had in mind to get back at Finn, but he had never even considered this. "Whoa-" He said quickly, putting his hands up against Raven and stopping her from getting any closer. Raven noticed his resistance and stopped immediately. She stared up at him, look of a thousand emotions is her eyes, among them anger, resentment and sadness.

"Raven" Aerrow said sternly but softly "you cant- We can't do this"

"why not?" Raven said slowly and sadly "I heard you broke up with Clarke"

"Yes but-"

"but you still love her"

Aerrow paused, and looked down at the ground briefly before staring at Raven again "yes. I do" was all he said

Raven said nothing. Aerrow could see the sadness in Raven's face and eyes, the sadness of rejection and not feeling good enough to compete with Clarke. He knew he couldn't help her in the way she wanted, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try another way.

"Raven" he said "you're sad, you want to move on. I get it. but I'm not the person to do that with you. So if you want to get with someone, sure, go ahead, but leave me out of it. Try Bellamy or someone else who will be more easily… persuaded"

Raven still said nothing, and Aerrow couldn't read what she was thinking. He had tried not to sound too much of an asshole, but he needed to let Raven know that she had made a mistake in trying to seduce him. In his older days, before everything went to hell on the Ark, he might have been tempted to hook up with a ready and willing Raven, but since then he had changed, and he was not going back.

He sighed, left Raven behind and walked back into the drop ship to find Finn and Clarke standing at the weapons table, gathering a spear. They were obviously in a group. Aerrow thought about going off on his own but thought better of it. he wanted to forget about what had just happened with Raven and knew from experience that that wasn''t going to happen when he was on his own and had only his mind for company. No, he needed to be around the company of others.

"lets get going" he said, walking up to join the other two. "not you too Aerrow" Clarke sighed, and Aerrow couldn't tell if she meant it or not.

"Clarke, come on" he said good naturedly

"No" she replied "you'd be better off on your own. You always are"

"But I don't want to be alone" Aerrow said quickly and quietly. Clarke paused and looked at him, and saw the genuinity in his eyes, and she relented

"Besides. If the grounders do show up you'll be glad to have me "he joked, winking at her.

"okay" Clarke said. She couldn't help but smile at him. He had embraced the happier side of him much more since landing on the ground, and she liked that part of him, much more than his darker, violent side.

"Hey partner, we're wasting daylight" another boy said, coming over to Clarke. Aerrow recognised him as the same guy who thought he'd caught Aerrow out with the trip wire. The kid noticed Aerrow and Finn "Oh, Finn, Aerrow. You joining the band?"

Finn nodded "sure" he said, a little reluctantly. Aerrow was feeling exactly the same. He had no time for people like this.

"Awesome" the kid said "I haven't really gotten a chance to hang with you guys much"

'there's a very good reason for that' Aerrow thought as they started walking out of the drop ship

"Hey, do you even know how I got arrested on the Ark?" the kid continued, directing his question at Finn and Aerrow.

The kid walked out of the drop ship but Clarke, Finn and Aerrow lingered slightly, exchanging the same irritated glance. "dying to hear about it" Finn said eventually as they headed out

They walked through the woods in search of anything for food, the entire time being entertained by the kid, who introduced himself proudly as Miles, and his stories of all the irrelevant activities he had done on the Ark. The other three just went along with it.

Suddenly, Aerrow heard a noise off to his right. He had fired an arrow at the source of the noise before the others had even registered it.

The arrow hit nothing. The noise had just been a tree branch falling to the ground. Even though Aerrow hadn't actually hit anything, Miles still stared at him in amazement.

After Aerrow had retrieved the arrow, Miles approached him. "hey Aerrow" he said in his annoying intrusive voice "do you think you could teach me some of your moves. I'm pretty handy with a knife, don't you think?"

He drew his knife and made a few fake slashes in the air. They were pathetically unco-ordinated and Miles was so off balance that Aerrow could have pushed him over simply by poking him. Aerrow had had enough of his stupidity, and decided to put an end to it for the time being.

In the blink of an eye, he yanked his hand up and grabbed Miles's knife hand. Holding Miles's wrist between his thumb and forefinger, Aerrow squeezed the pressure points in it, causing Miles to shout out in pain and immediately drop the knife.

Aerrow stopped squeezing and Miles looked at Aerrow with not a small amount of fear in his eyes that Aerrow actually found hilarious. "No you're not" Aerrow told the younger boy simply, letting Miles go.

Miles picked up his knife "well can you at least show me some moves?" he called out. Aerrow ground his jaw. This guy did not know when to cut it out. Aerrow threw his knife into Miles' knife, shooting it out of his hand and pinning it to a tree. "No" he said much more firmly, hoping Miles would get the message. There was only one person Aerrow was ever going to train, and that was Sara. He walked off with Clarke and Finn, leaving Miles to pick up the pieces of his broken pride.

As they walked along, Aerrow kept thinking about Sara. He needed to see her, but didn't know how to get away, especially after what he told Clarke about not wanting to go on his own. His gaze settled on Miles and the gun he held in his hands. That was his ticket out. Miles had the gun which meant they didn't need Aerrow for protection. Miles would be lousy protection if the grounders did show up but Aerrow didn't count on that happening, and how useful Miles could be was irrelevant, it was how useful Aerrow made him out to be.

He came up beside Clarke, and drew in a breath. "Hey, Clarke" he started "I know I said I didn't want to be on my own but-"

"But now you do" Clarke sighed, disinterested, as if she had read his mind.

"Yeah" Aerrow continued a little awkwardly "you'll, be fine, Miles has a gun. You don't need me anyway. I just want you to know-"

"go then" Clarke interrupted him yet again. Aerrow lingered, staring at her "Go. Like you said, we'll be fine" she nodded.

As Aerrow started walking off, something niggled on Clarke's mind. Aerrow had been acting weird ever since he had gotten back two nights ago. She thought about everything he had told her since he returned, and everything she had witnessed in that time, and she realised something

"Aerrow" she called out, causing him to stop and turn around to face her again

"what?" he replied

"where's Sara?" Clarke asked him

Aerrow froze, his mind and body unresponsive. Clarke had figured it out, and asked the question he hadn't been looking forward to answering.

"you said she was safe, but I haven't seen her around camp at all since you got back, or since the meeting for that matter. Where is she?"

Aerrow wanted to give her an answer, any answer, but for some reason he couldn't. His emotional side was not his strongest point, and right now it was being overloaded, with events with the grounders, Murphy, Dylan, Arianna, Clarke, Sara and now Raven his mind was overloaded. Instead of answering Clarke, he turned away and started running, no, sprinting off in the direction of the cave and as far away from Clarke as possible, leaving her behind, bewildered and bemused.

Aerrow finally made it to the cave. Having sprinted the whole way – at least 3 miles – he was out of breath and panting hard.

"Sara it's me, let's go back to camp" he called out, but got no answer,

Aerrow narrowed his eyes in confusion. He had been expecting Sara to appear at the entrance or at least answer him. Her leg should have healed enough to walk on consistently by now, but there were no recent tracks that Aerrow could see that would indicate she was elsewhere, so where was she?

Dread filled Aerrow when he called out again but again got no response, and he practically dived through the entrance and down the tunnel.

Aerrow emerged into the cave and saw nothing. The ashes of the fire were still there, as was the moss bedding, but Sara was nowhere to be seen.

Aerrow's eyes narrowed when he spied a piece of paper pinned somehow to the wall of the cave. Aerrow slowly walked over to examine it and his horror became real.

Pinned to the wall with Sara's knife, the paper turned out to be a map. Drawn on it were his current position, with a traced path on it leading to an unknown location deep within the grounders' territory. The top of the map had a note written on it in blood. Sara's blood. It read 'NAJA: MEET US HERE IF YOU WANT HER TO LIVE'

Aerrow's eyes went wide open. "No…" he breathed as the full realisation of the situation hit him like a tonne of bricks. _Sara was gone. _Taken by the grounders for a reason Aerrow did not know. However, the note was for him, and by taking the girl he loved, the grounders had made it personal. Aerrow knew only one thing: If the grounders hurt her or worse, they were going to pay. They thought they knew what he was capable of. They knew nothing.

Aerrow gripped his bow tightly, yanked the knife out of the wall and took the note. He raced up and out of the cave and sprinted through the woods. He had to rescue Sara from the grounders, whatever the cost.


	30. Chapter 30

**My, aren't things heating up nicely for Aerrow and the others? My apologies for the delay in uploading this chapter but I have been so caught up in the season finale of The 100 and fantasizing about how I'm going to include Aerrow in the final fight. Rest assured, it will be awesome!**

**For now though, in light of some recent criticism/advice with regards to how I write about Aerrow I've tried to use this chapter to outline what Clarke thinks of Aerrow's actions in running off in the previous chapter, as well as finally having her find out about Aerrow and Sara getting together. In short, I've tried to highlight Aerrow's mistakes that he has made. **

**Major plot developments will take place shortly after this chapter as well, and will be critical for the rest of the story. I'm currently drafting up the chapters for episode 12, and all I will reveal for now is that Aerrow undergoes a massive change in his mindset and he is positioned how I want him to be to face the grounders in the final fight.**

Shortly after Aerrow had run off, Finn spotted some tracks that appeared to be left by a wild Boar, and the three remaining group members started following them in earnest. They had not caught anything so far and with night only a few hours away, they needed this kill.

Clarke walked along in her own world. She was still trying to get over Aerrow and the way he had acted when she had brought up Sara. It was not like him to just turn his back on her and run off. He was hiding something, something to do with Sara and she wanted to know what it was. What could he, or rather they be hiding from her? Maybe Sara was not ok as Aerrow had originally said, maybe they were hiding to get away from the group or the grounders, hell, maybe they had joined up with the grounders and were secretly plotting how to kill the remaining members of the 100. Clarke shook the thought from her head, there was no way that could ever happen, was there?

The more she thought about it the more her imagination got the better of her. _The grounders had captured Aerrow, giving him his bow and tattoos, and he claimed that he was one of them. At the bridge, Anya had said that he was part of an ancient prophecy of some sort. Maybe Sara was in some way a part of that too, since Aerrow was training her. Maybe the grounders had captured Sara and turned both her and Aerrow to their side._ Clarke forced the thought away, but another one took its place. There was one more possibility that she had deliberately not wanted to take into consideration. _Aerrow and Sara had both been missing for several days. Aerrow came back to the camp and almost immediately broke up with Clarke. Then he ran off the moment Clarke mentioned Sara's name._ Could Aerrow and Sara…? no… surely not…

While Clarke contemplated on Aerrow, Miles continued talking his irrelevant gibberish in the background, distracting Finn enough to not realise something was wrong with the tracks. It was only after Miles dropped back a little bit that he noticed what it was.

Clarke noticed the perplexed look on Finn's face and told Miles to be quiet, something she'd been aching to do for pretty much the entire trip. She crouched down beside Finn. "what is it?" she asked him

Finn paused before answering "these tracks…" he started but trailed off. The tracks were immaculate. No animal could have made them willingly. Finn was trying to come to terms with what that meant. He almost wished Aerrow was still there to give him a hand with trying to discern what the tracks really were.

"they're perfect" Clarke finished his sentence for him, all thoughts of Aerrow leaving her mind

"Too perfect" Finn replied, fear edging into his voice as he suddenly realised what was wrong with the tracks and what they meant. They were a trap. A trap set by the grounders. "we're the ones being hunted" he finished, and all three of them became much more aware of how vulnerable they were. Now Finn definitely wished Aerrow was there. He had no problems admitting that he could not fight the grounders, and that he needed Aerrow's protection, just as the other two did, whether they were willing to admit it or not.

Miles raised his gun and looked through the scope to get a better look at the surrounding area. "I don't see anything" he said. That did nothing to quell Finn's fear. He knew from experience that you never saw the grounders, and when you did it was already too late. He was about to tell the others that they needed to get back to the camp when an arrow came flying out of the trees and struck Miles in his knee, and the kid cried out in pain. Clarke and Finn looked at each other in horror. 50 centimetres to either side and the arrow would have struck one of them in the chest. Another arrow followed almost immediately after the first and hit Miles in his own chest, and he collapsed to the ground.

"MILES!" Clarke cried out at the sight of the kid with two arrows in him. For half a second a thought passed through Clarke's mind that the arrow had been fired by Aerrow and that he had indeed joined the grounders. She shocked herself at the thought and immediately discounted it. There was no way that could be possible. Aerrow would never do such a thing. Besides, the arrows were different to his, much blunter. Where Aerrow's arrows would have punctured right through Miles, these ones only lodged partly in him. The part of her mother in Clarke immediately made her diagnose Miles. He would live, but only if he got help fast.

Finn looked desperately around him, trying to find any trace of the shooter, but still saw nothing. He looked at Miles and made a split second decision. "Clarke, come on" he said urgently, grabbing her hand and making to run back to camp. He felt Clarke's hesitation at leaving Miles at the mercy of the grounders but he knew there was nothing they could do. If they stayed where they were any longer they would end up exactly the same as him if not worse. "we've gotta leave him" he urged Clarke.

Clarke stood and both of them started running back to the camp when almost straight away, a grounder appeared from nowhere behind a tree and struck Clarke on her head, sending her to the ground. Finn stopped in his tracks and tried to run back to held Clarke, when he too was struck by a second grounder and was knocked out.

Clarke lay dazed on the ground. She knew vaguely what was happening but had no idea what had just happened. She saw Finn fall to the ground and rolled over on to her back, just as three hazy figures stood over her. Her vision cleared slightly and clarity returned to her mind and she was able to make out the figures of the two grounders who had attacked them, as well as the female grounder, Anya, who was their leader. The three stood menacingly over her but Clarke's sense of vision started fading away as she too slipped into unconsciousness.

Finn and Clarke both awoke at the same time not long after the attack. They knew this because they could still hear the moans coming from Miles, who still lying on the ground with two arrows lodged in him. They were being dragged by the two grounders through the woods with Anya walking out in front. Their hands were bound tightly by tough vines and once the grounders dragging them noticed they were awake, they made them walk instead.

"Clarke, you ok?" Finn groaned.

"yeah" she replied groggily "where are they taking us?"

"I don't know"

"Do you think there's any chance someone else might have seen what happened? What about Aerrow?"

"Finn, if he had seen it, he would have done something about it by now. There's nothing we can do"

"Quiet" one of the grounders said gruffly. Finn and Clarke both remained quiet for the rest of the way to wherever they were headed. Finn made sure to take note of every feature they passed on the way, in case they got lucky and escaped. Finn knew there was not much chance of that but there was always hope.

Eventually, a small hut came into view. It was lit on the inside and appeared to be left over from before the war, which they deduced by the metal door and lights on the inside as well as the old decrepit road leading up to it. A small fire burned in a barrel on the outside of the building and in any other situation, it would have actually been quite homely.

Anya had long gone ahead and they weren't sure if she was already in the building or somewhere else. The two grounders who had remained with them lead them inside and made Clarke and Finn sit in the room while they walked off into another adjoining room.

Finn turned to Clarke and outlined his observations of the journey "Okay, we walked for about three miles. After crossing that creek, another two or so before we got to the road"

"I don't think it matters Finn" Clarke almost cut him off, her voice full of fear "They didn't blindfold us which means they don't care what we saw" she paused, defeat and resignation to their fate evident in her voice and posture "they're probably going to kill us" Finn wanted to say something, or even just do something to try and reassure her, but he didn't. Because he knew, deep down in his heart, that she was right.

The two grounders suddenly reappeared and grabbed both Clarke and Finn and dragged them into the next room. They were shoved roughly down on the floor next to another unconscious figure. The unconscious person had a feminine body shape but Clarke couldn't identify her due to her being face down and her clothes and hair stained in blood.

Clarke looked up at the grounder who stared at them coldly with emotionless eyes, the only part of him visible through his face mask.

Anya entered the room and stood in front of them. She drew her sword and held it in front of Clarke, who stared at her with desperate eyes. Finn tried to move between the two but was held back by one of the other grounders. Anya raised her blade and Clarke shut her eyes, waiting for the moment the sword would cut through her and end her life.

"SARA!" a male voice shouted and Clarke heard the sound of heavy footsteps sprinting in through the door to the building. Clarke opened her eyes. She recognised the voice, she would anywhere. It was filled with authority and uncaring seriousness as usual, but some other aspects and emotions were a part of it this time, things that Clarke hadn't heard before. The usual calm, focussed tone had been replaced by pure anger and, more than anything else: _desperation._ Clarke also detected something else in the voice that she couldn't comprehend. It sounded almost like love?

Everyone in the room turned to look as the owner of the voice appeared at the entrance to the room. There, purple eyes dark, evil and blazing with pure rage, with an arrow aimed directly at Anya's heart, stood Aerrow Eroxin.

The intensity of the stand-off filled the room, practically clogging the air. Aerrow stood on one side of the room, and Ania and her companion stood on the other. Neither one of them looked like backing down, although Aerrow had the upper hand. He had the arrow pointed at Anya, and at this range there was no way he could miss and no way that she could catch the arrow, if that were even possible.

Aerrow was tempted to let the arrow go right them and there, but he held back. If he killed Anya, he might never find out where Sara was. He hadn't even taken notice of Clarke, Finn or the other captured person. He was entirely focussed on Anya.

"where is she" he demanded, his voice as harsh, cold and threatening as it had ever been before.

Anya said nothing, she just stared casually back at Aerrow, having called his bluff.

Aerrow was about to release the arrow when a long, low groan filled the room as the third figure on the ground slowly regained consciousness. Slowly, the girl sat up and held her hand to her bleeding forehead. Aerrow recognised her immediately. So did Clarke. Finn took a little longer as he didn't know her as well but soon he realised as well. The girl, having been discovered and captured in the cave by the grounders earlier that day, knocked out and then brought to the hut just like Finn and Clarke, was Sara.

Aerrow saw her sitting UP in front of him, barely conscious, limp, bleeding and broken. In that moment, he lost his focus. All he could think about was wanting to go over to her and hold her tightly. By now he had also noticed the other two, and at the sight of Clarke as well his heart sank even lower. Anya had both the people Aerrow loved as well as perhaps his only other friend in Finn. He only had eyes for Sara at the moment though. He stared directly at her, his mouth slightly open and his eyes wide, and he let his bow drop.

It was all the distraction the grounders needed to make their move. Their plan had worked. As Aerrow stood there staring at Sara, unable to take his eyes away from her, open and vulnerable for precious seconds, the grounder who had been hiding behind the door frame appeared behind Aerrow and struck him on the back of his head, knocking him out as well.

Aerrow regained consciousness quickly. After being knocked out several times since lading on the ground, he had been training himself to wake up as quickly as possible, eliminating his exposed weakness. He was still not fully there, but with a little more practise he would have the technique perfected.

That did not matter right now, as Aerrow found himself without any of his weapons and his hands tied together, just like the other three.

Unlike the others however, Aerrow was able to immediately break the bonds completely on his own, using his strength alone. He took even the grounders by surprise and in an instant he was standing in front of Anya, one hand grabbing her collar and the other raised in a fist.

Anya remained calm. "I wouldn't do that if I were you" she said, nodding towards Sara. Aerrow looked and saw the girl he loved being held by one of the other grounders with a knife pressed against her throat. Aerrow got the message, and let Anya go, his mind crystal clear once again.

He stood down and glared at Anya. "why?" he growled.

Anya almost scoffed at the remark "how else were we going to get you to co-operate?" he almost taunted him, her eyes icy cool "Of all the emotions one can feel, none is more powerful than love. That's what makes it the most dangerous. It also makes it the most influential"

"love? What?" Clarke stammered. At first she had assumed Anya was talking about her, but then noticed that Anya had directed the words at the other captured girl in the room. Clarke remembered the way Aerrow had looked when he first noticed them. The first and only person he really looked at was Sara, and she wondered if maybe Anya was not talking about Aerrow loving Clarke, but rather loving Sara. _Surely not. Not Sara…_

Aerrow glanced at Clarke, his eyes the most emotional she had ever seen them. "Clarke I'm sorry" he choked out "I should have told you sooner…" he cut himself off, not willing to say anything more.

He tried to read the expression on Clarkes face, but he couldn't find anything. Anya's comment had triggered a landslide of emotional secrets of Aerrow's, and Clarke herself was still trying to come to terms with the whole situation. She shook her head sadly at him, and Aerrow felt more dead inside than he ever had.

Clarke could not believe it. It was true. Aerrow had spent those 3 days he was missing hooking up with Sara somewhere. That was where he had run off to after she mentioned Sara. Clarke found herself feeling something for Aerrow she never thought she would: anger. Anger and rage. He claimed to have broken up with her because she had lied to him and betrayed him, but it was all no doubt a cover for the fact he had found someone else and was too ashamed to even tell her about it. What made it worse was that Aerrow had done those exact same things to her as he claimed she did to him. He had lied to her about Sara, and he had betrayed her in hooking up with the younger girl behind her back while they were still meant to be together. It seemed silly to her, but Clarke reminded herself to properly break up with Aerrow and more if they all got out of this alive, which seemed very unlikely.

While Clarke processed this new information, Anya's comment about love struck a nerve in Aerrow. He listed it as something to be wary of in future. He had already seen how Clarke had reacted. She was going to hate him for a long time, possibly forever, and Aerrow knew he had made a mistake in either getting with Sara in the first place, or not telling Clarke sooner. He too, made a mental note to talk properly to Clarke about it if they managed to escape. On that thought, Aerrow returned to reality and focussed on the other thing Anya had said to him. "co-operate with what?" he asked, returning to being somewhat calm and collected.

Anya said nothing, instead she reached forward and cut Clarke's bonds, freeing her hands. Clarke looked up in shock at Anya's actions, and her confusion increased tenfold. "what do you want from us?" she asked, continuing Aerrow's question.

Again, Anya said nothing. She merely stepped aside as the other two grounders drew back a curtain to reveal a little girl, no older than 13 or 14 lying on a cold metal table. She was unconscious. She had black scorch marks on her face and clothes and was struggling to breathe. Clarke got to her feet instantly at the sight. Aerrow slowly rose to his feet after her

"Help her" Anya said to the two, her voice neither demanding nor pleading. Aerrow and Clarke glanced at each other, both wondering what the consequences would be if they refused or the girl didn't make it. For Anya to have brought them here just for this told Aerrow that the girl was important, to Anya at least, which meant she could be used as leverage to free Finn and Sara.

Anya sensed what they were thinking, and raised her sword threateningly in Finn's and Sara's direction. "If she dies, they die" she said coldly, driving the nail into the coffin for Aerrow and Clarke. They exchanged nervous glances, both at each other as well as the other two.

Clarke walked over to get a better look at the extent of the girl's injuries. Aerrow was nowhere near as skilled a doctor as Clarke, but he could tell from where he was that it was not good. The girl was barely breathing and without serious medical help, it was unlikely that she would last another hour. While Clarke examined the girl more closely, Aerrow asked Anya who the girl was.

"her name is Triss" the grounder leader said, the sadness in her face mirrored in her voice.

"I can't do this" Clarke spoke, looking up from Triss's body "I don't have any equipment"

"we'll provide you with what we can" Anya replied

"why do you think Aerrow and I can save her?"

"Lincoln told her" Finn spoke up, figuring it out first

"yes" Anya said "Our healer is gone there is nothing we can do for her. For their sakes…" she gestured to Finn and Sara "I hope you two can

"but why do you need both of us?" Aerrow asked

"because you two have the best knowledge and work the best together. You two are my best chance of saving her"

Aerrow gave Clarke a sideways look. It was one of both trust, sadness and guilt all at the same time. Clarke had much the same expression, except she had disappointment as well, disappointment in Aerrow, for what he had done with Sara behind her back. Aerrow just gave Clarke a reassuring nod, indicating that he would help her and they could save Triss. Aerrow was happy to let Clarke take the lead here. Although he had some knowledge, Clarke had more and she had much experience. He knew that she would be far more useful at this task than he would.

"you can do this" Finn spoke up, trying to reassure them himself despite his own very real fear. Sara said nothing. She just looked tired, like she was ready to just give up. She had no fight left in her, but Aerrow could still see the determination in her eyes. She just did not have the strength left to support it.

Anya started to walk out of the room when Aerrow realised he needed to know how Triss had gotten her injuries. Aerrow figured if he knew that then he could identify the possible injuries she might have and then Clarke would be able to treat them. "wait" he called out, causing Anya to stop and turn around to face him again "what happened to her?

"She was on the bridge when your bomb exploded" Anya said simply, looking down at Triss and then back up at Clarke and Aerrow, trying to make them feel as guilty as possible "you did this to her" with that, Anya left the room, leaving Aerrow and Clarke to try and figure out how to save Triss and in turn, Finn and Sara


	31. Chapter 31

**This chapter deals with how Clarke and Aerrow deal with the recent revelations of the previous chapter while trying to save Triss at the same time. I kind of had to cut out all of Finn's scenes from the actual show and replace him with Aerrow for the purposes of this story. However, I changed dialogue to suit the characters involved. **

**This chapter also sets in motion the huge events I have planned in the following few chapters. Safe to say, no one in the story will be as they currently are, especially not Aerrow or Sara. All will be revealed in due time but what I will say for now is Aerrow verses the grounders will be epic with the way I've set things up in my drafted chapters.**

One of the male grounders came back into the room carrying a sack containing some basic tools and instruments. Aerrow eyed the knifes, and considered using it to kill the grounders and make his escape with Sara, Clarke and Finn right then and there, but for some reason he chose not to. He did not want to. He wanted to try and get out of his situation without killing, which he found strange, and he did not know entirely why. He was not a cold blooded killer. He was close to the edge, but had not gone over it. Not yet at least.

Clarke examined the tools to see if there was anything useful while Aerrow monitored Triss. Suddenly, the young girl started coughing violently. "Clarke, she's getting worse" Aerrow called out

"Help me lift her up" Clarke replied, acting quickly. Both she and Aerrow knew that Triss more than likely had some amount of fluid in her lungs, but it was impossible to determine how much. Aerrow and Clarke lifted the unconscious Triss up and held her in a sitting position so she could expel some of the fluid or at least recover a more normal breathing pattern.

Aerrow had his hand on her back and he noticed something was wrong. "she's not moving any air on the left" He told Clarke. A consequence of the shock wave of the blast passing through her no doubt. "she has fluid present in her lungs"

Clarke put her ear on the affected side of Triss's back, exposing 5 healed puncture marks in the little girl's back. They were not unlike the ones Aerrow had seen on Lincoln back in the drop ship. He only just realised that the grounders back in the cave had given him two of the same ones, right over his heart. He had no time to wonder about the scars right now though. He had to focus on saving Triss

"The force of the explosion must have hit her in the chest" Clarke said, realising it as well "she's drowning in her own blood"

Clarke acted quickly and went straight over to the pile of tools lain out on the floor. "she can't breathe. I have to relieve the pressure" she continued, scouring the tools for what she needed.

She eventually found what she was looking for: a scalpel. She grabbed it and walked over to the pile of hot coals situated on a bench. Aerrow realised what she was planning on doing

"I need a small tube" She told Aerrow "something rigid, about the size of my finger"

Aerrow spotted some old tubing on another bench. He grabbed it immediately and walked back over to Triss. Using the sharpened tip of one of his arrows, Aerrow cut the tubing down to size and got it ready for Clarke to use.

Clarke heated the scalpel in the coals for a few seconds before joining Aerrow at the bench Triss was lying on. She paused for a second before plunging the scalpel slowly into Triss's side and deliberately puncturing Triss's fluid affected lung. Even though she was still unconscious, Triss grimaced and squealed at the pain. Aerrow handed Clarke the tubing and Clarke inserted it into Triss's body, allowing the blood in her lungs to drain out.

"Ok. Atta girl, breathe" Clarke spoke to Triss, even though the little girl could not hear her. Hopefully the worst was over.

Suddenly, Anya came back into the room and saw what they had done to Triss. "What have you done!" Anya shouted, causing both Clarke and Aerrow to turn in surprise.

"no, you don't understand, she couldn't breathe!" Clarke started only to have Anya shove her out of the way, causing her to fall to the ground.

Aerrow stepped in. "hey, back off!" he shouted, walking quickly over to Anya. One of the grounders grabbed him but Aerrow kicked the man's leg out, unbalancing him before flipping him over his back, slamming him into the ground and knocking him out. Anya looked up in surprise.

"we saved her life!" Aerrow told Anya sternly, ice in his eyes. The female grounder backed down, albeit rather stubbornly.

Aerrow helped Clarke up off the ground and the two of them stood off to the side. All they could do was wait for the blood to drain from Triss's lung before doing anything else. Since they had time, Aerrow decided to try and explain himself.

"Clarke, listen to me" he said quietly, so only she could hear him "I'm sorry, ok. I was going to tell you, I just needed to figure out how…"

"That's where you were those three days" Clarke interrupted sharply but quietly "That's where you ran off to earlier today. You were with her the entire time" she couldn't bring herself to say Sara's name

Aerrow could practically taste the disappointment in her voice. He sighed. "Yes. Yes I was. Listen, Clarke. I live on a knife edge, not just physically but emotionally as well. I just need one thing to send me over the edge. That's what happened at the bridge. I got so angry at you for not listening to me and bringing the guns, and for putting Sara in danger"

"what happened to her?" Clarke was still mad at him but she at least wanted to know what had happened after the bridge

"she got shot through the leg with an arrow. If I hadn't gone back for her she would have been dead. I care about her, Clarke. She understands me better than anyone, and she knows what it's like to feel how I feel about things. Yes, I care for you but I also care for her, and I was trying to find a balance between that before telling you"

Clarke said nothing

"Clarke, do you hear me?" Aerrow pressed

Clarke did not know what to say. She saw the genuinity in Aerrow's face but that did not change how she felt about him, about his betrayal of her trust and love. "Look, lets just get through this first, and then we'll talk" Clarke eventually said, not even trying to disguise the iciness in her voice

Aerrow paused, before nodding in acceptance. He realised that he had made her hate him, and now he was going to have to deal with it. He decided to stay in the present "Is Triss going to be ok?" he asked

Clarke sighed "she's breathing a little better. But even if we can save her, what happens then?"

Aerrow appreciated the topic change. Both he and Clarke knew that what happened after Triss would revolve entirely around him and what he would be able to do about his situation. The grounders knew it too, which was why one of them was still sat just behind Sara, ready to kill her if Aerrow tried anything. "we aren't going to die today, Clarke" he said, meaning every single word "none of us will die today. I'll make sure of that"

"she's hot" Anya spoke up urgently

Clarke turned and walked briskly back over to Triss. "her heart rate's way up" she stated "she's probably septic"

"what does that mean?" Anya asked, still in the same urgent tone of voice. This girl was really important to Anya for a reason Aerrow still didn't know. He did however know what Clarkes statement meant. "It means her blood's poisoned" He said, walking over to examine the materials. Clarke came over to join him soon after.

"none of this stuff is of any use" he said sourly

"she needs real medicine!" Clarke said, finally losing it "how can you send a little girl into battle? What is wrong with you people?" she said, glaring at Anya. Aerrow had been wanting to ask the same question.

"she was with me, she was my second" Anya replied simply and calmly, unaffected by Clarke's outburst "its how we train them to be warriors"

"what? So the killing can just go on and on?" Clarke said, finally standing up to Anya

Anya did not like Clarke's threat at all. "you put the bomb on the bridge, you did this to her!" Anya shouted

Another coughing fit from Triss interrupted the stand-off. This time it was worse. Aerrow could tell that if they did not do something soon, Triss wasn't going to last much longer. "Clarke" he asked more than said

Clarke looked away from Anya and back at Triss, trying to decide what to do. "she needs clean blood" she said eventually.

"a transfusion?" Aerrow questioned, understanding immediately.

"Yes, a transfusion. Ok, there's no more tubing so we need a syringe, the biggest one you can find" Clarke told him, showing him that she meant it "and I need a hollow needle"

Aerrow looked at Clarke just as she looked at him. Clarke's eyes were alight with determination, which Aerrow picked up. He gave her a small nod, before going off to collect the materials.

After some searching, Aerrow was able to find an old syringe. He cleaned it out as best he could. He also found an old, thin, hollow piece of metal. He sharpened it with the far harder blade of his coandite knife and screwed it into the syringe before handing it to Clarke.

Clarke took the syringe and walked up to Anya "okay, we're going to need your blood" she told Anya. "no" the male grounder with her said firmly, blocking Clarke from reaching Anya

"you're from the same tribe, it's the best match we're going to get" Clarke said urgently.

Aerrow saw that Triss's condition was deteriorating and that the grounders were not going to relent, so he made a split second decision. "Clarke, we're running out of time. Just use my blood" he said quickly, holding out his arm.

Clarke had no time to think about the potential consequences and plunged the needle into Aerrow's arm. Any other person would have flinched or possibly even grunted with pain but not Aerrow. Thanks to his resistance to pain, he did not feel a thing as Clarke extracted his blood. When the syringe was full, Clarke withdrew it, handed it to Aerrow and headed back over to Triss to try and find a vein with which to perform the transfusion.

To her horror, she couldn't find one. "I can't find a vein!" she cried out in dismay "she's clamping down, she's lost too much blood" Aerrow was somewhat calmer and he realised that it was too late. They weren't going to be able to save her.

"Clarke" he said solemnly "she's not breathing"

Clarke looked up and saw that Aerrow was right. Triss had gone still and was no longer breathing, her heart was no longer beating. She was no longer alive.

Everyone in the room reacted differently. Clarke sighed in utter disappointment. Aerrow calmly stared evenly at Triss's body. He was sympathetic for the little girl, but he did not show it. The grounders just stared at Triss, still coming to terms with what had happened. Finn and Sara meanwhile just looked on desperately. They knew what that meant. Triss had died, and now the grounders were going to fulfil their promise and kill them.

Anya calmly and slowly walked over to Triss's side. She drew her dagger and Aerrow wondered what she was going to do with it. She cut off one of the braids in Triss's hair, before walking to the edge of the room and motioning for one of the other grounders to take Triss's body away, which he did.

Anya walked out after the grounder, but before she left the room, she turned to the other two. "take those two away" she said, pointing at Finn and Sara "and kill them"

The two grounders acted immediately. Grabbing Finn and Sara, hauling them to their feet and out of the room

"NO!" Aerrow and Clarke screamed as one. Aerrow made to go after the grounders to stop them and rescue Sara and Finn, but before he could the final grounder stabbed Aerrow with another poison laced dagger, and within seconds Aerrow was unconscious once again.

Aerrow awoke a few minutes later, to find himself sat on the ground with his hands tied behind his back. He was tied to the work bench and his bonds were much more secure. As hard as he tried, Aerrow was unable to break them. He squeezed his eyes shut. _This could not be happening_ he told himself in his head over and over again. It was true though. Sara was going to be killed and there was nothing he could do about it. Just like Arianna…

Aerrow looked over at Clarke, who was crouched about a meter away from him packing away the tools with the help of the remaining grounder.

"Anya will take no pleasure in your friends' deaths" the grounder spoke, and Aerrow was not sure if he was trying to spite them, or comfort them. Aerrow didn't need comforting. He needed to get his hands free, so he could escape and kill every single grounder who tried to stop him from rescuing Sara.

Aerrow and Clarke looked up to face the grounder, who smiled at them. Not in a hostile way either, Aerrow saw genuine kindness in his face, but he did not fall for it.

"_Naja_ has already been made one of us" the grounder said to Clarke "Prove your worth, and you will be welcomed here"

Aerrow took half a second to realise what the grounder had just said. He was offering for Clarke and Aerrow to join the grounders. Aerrow actually considered his offer. The lifestyle would suit him better anyway and he just felt like he would enjoy himself more as a grounder. He would no longer have to hide himself and his various body markings. However, if they killed Sara, there would be no-one left for him to join.

"We couldn't save Triss" Clarke replied first "why would you want us?" Aerrow couldn't quite believe that Clarke was considering the offer as well. She must have been feeling the same way

"we told you" the grounder answered "our healer is gone, as is our lead warrior, the man who trained you, _Naja_" he nodded at Aerrow "They both died from the blast. With them gone, we need someone to take their places. You two would be an ideal pairing as well"

Clarke scoffed at his final comment. It was ironic because up until a few days ago, she and Aerrow had actually been a pair, but not now, not anymore, and never again. Aerrow registered the comment, but didn't take notice of it. He was more focussed on was above him: there, balanced precariously on the edge of the bench, was his knife. He just needed to get it somehow without being noticed by the grounder.

"would I be able to go back to see them?" she asked, her back turned to the grounder "my friends? My home?"

The grounder paused, before answering coldly "tomorrow there'll be nothing to go back to"

Aerrow meanwhile had finally figured out how to get the knife. He still had around his wrist an elastic band. It was one of Arianna's hair ties, something he had kept with him ever since that fateful day back on the Ark. It was perhaps his last true link to her. Now though, its elasticity would come in handy. He just needed to slowly work it off of his wrist, loop it around his fingers and fire it at the knife, hopefully dislodging it. He just needed more time.

"those marks on her shoulder" he spoke up, stalling while he worked the band off his wrist "what were they? Lincoln has them too, as do I"

"Each scar marks a kill in combat" the grounder replied simply. Everything became clear. In his battle with the grounders, Aerrow had killed two of them, and so had been given two scars. As if the ones he already had did not suffice… Aerrow wondered briefly if the way he lived would eventually leave him with any un-scarred skin at all?

"five kills?" Clarke said in disbelief "she was a little girl"

"she was brave" the grounder replied with a proud look on his face

Aerrow had by now worked the band off his wrist and had looped it around his fingers in a perfect slingshot position. The shot was made trickier by the fact that he could not actually see his hands and therefore could not see exactly where he was aiming. He only had one chance. He needed to be perfect

"how many do you have?" Clarke asked

In response, the grounder undid his chest armour and pulled down a corner of his shirt, revealing at least 20 of the same scars.

It was the distraction Aerrow needed. He fired the band at the knife, praying his accuracy was a spot on as it needed to be.

It was. The band hit the knife and it wobbled slightly before tumbling off the table and into Aerrow's hands.

In an instant he had cut the bonds and before the grounder could even react, Aerrow had stabbed the knife into the side of his head, killing him instantly.

Aerrow stepped back, his pitiless eyes so dark they were almost black as the lifeless grounder fell. He did not even think about what he had just done. He did not care. He just knew he needed to act quickly if he had any chance of saving Sara and Finn, so he gathered his weapons quickly, grabbed Clarkes hand and they raced out of the building.

"Come on Clarke!" Aerrow shouted as he sprinted through the black of the night. Clarke was doing her best to keep up but she was no match for Aerrow. He was faster, more agile, could see things clearer, had better endurance and more motivation to find and rescue the other two, courtesy of Sara.

Suddenly, Aerrow heard a scream from behind him. In an instant he stopped and turned to see Clarke get yanked up by a noose that had been left hidden on the trail.

Aerrow now had a choice. Did he stay and get Clarke down and risk wasting time and losing Sara? Or did he leave Clarke behind at the mercy of the grounders and go off to rescue Sara, knowing that it might already be too late? He needed to choose between Clarke and Sara. Clarke, who had saved him from himself, given him hope again and had been so good to him only to betray him and start a war with the grounders and who now hated him. And Sara, who was an exact mirror image of him, who he loved possibly even more deeply than he had loved Arianna and was pretty sure felt the same way about him. Clarke: his past. Or Sara: his present?

Aerrow looked ahead of him, in the direction of Sara and then back to Clarke, hanging upside down helplessly from the noose. He did not know what to do. His usually unflappable calm and focus had been broken. He had sworn to protect the people he loved, and now two of them were in danger and he could only save one.

Instinct took over.

In a split second decision, Aerrow Eroxin made his choice.


	32. Chapter 32

**This chapter serves as another sort of interlude between the big action chapters, and it focusses on how Aerrow processes the events that have happened in the previous two or three chapters. While this chapter may be a little short on action, later chapters will make up for that and this chapter is also designed to reveal some more aspects of Aerrow's character and how he feels about others. In the choice he makes on who to save.**

**Also, just as a side note, after this story ends with the ends of season 1, depending on how season 2 goes I am considering doing a sequel. But what I would like to know is if at the end of the story you guys would rather see Aerrow captured by the mountain men or would you rather have him end up in the same position as Finn and Bellamy. At the moment I am leaning towards the latter option but I'm still interested in what you guys think. Please leave your opinion in a review and any thoughts would be a big help for me. thanks guys.**

The arrow flew through the air. Its expertly aimed point cut through the rope like it was nothing, and its prisoner fell to the ground, where they were caught by the person who fired the arrow: Aerrow Eroxin.

The blonde haired girl looked up at him in shock at what had just happened. One moment she had been held captive by a rope and the next she was free. She allowed herself to fall into Aerrow's arms, and enjoyed the feeling of safety he had always provided her with.

Aerrow looked down at the girl and brushed her hair out of her face, and stared at the person he had chosen to save. It was the same girl he had fallen in love with, the same girl who had helped him learn how to love again, and the same girl, the one person who had almost always been there for him. Until recently, when his feelings for her had changed dramatically.

He had chosen to save her.

He had chosen to save Clarke.

Clarke stared at him in both shock and disbelief, not quite believing what he had just done. He had sacrificed perhaps his only chance of saving Sara to save her instead. She knew he loved Sara. Back at the shack they had been held in, she had seen the look in his eyes when he saw Sara lying on the ground. That kind of look could not be changed. It was a forever love, and it never died.

Clarke did not deny that she had felt many things at the realisation that Aerrow had hooked up with Sara. Things along the lines of hate and jealousy. However, Aerrow had ignored his love for Sara to save Clarke, who he also cared about. Clarke respected this and all her negative thoughts about Aerrow and Sara being together vanished for the time being.

"I thought- when I saw you look away, I thought you were going to leave me" a very emotional Clarke stammered. The effects of the past day had taken their toll on her both physically and mentally

"Clarke, listen to me" Aerrow said sternly yet soothingly, putting his hand on her cheek and angling her head up to face him directly "I will never leave you. I love Sara, yes. But I can't and I won't just forget about you"

Clarke was about to say something when a faint whistling sound cut through the air just as a small object impacted itself in Aerrow's neck. A split second later another projectile hit Clarke and she slumped to the ground, unconscious. Aerrow was more resistant and he pulled out whatever had hit his neck and examined it. He couldn't properly identify it in the darkness but from what he could see it looked like a dart, the kind of dart that could be fired blow a blow gun. It too must have been laced with poison because at that point Aerrow's vision darkened and he collapsed beside Clarke.

The first thing Aerrow did when he woke up was curse himself silently. He really needed to stop letting the grounders get the better of him like that and leave himself, and Clarke as well in this case, at their mercy.

Right now they did not seem very merciful as Aerrow found himself with his hands tethered on either side of him to a tree. He saw Clarke chained up and sitting on the ground near him. This time, there was nothing Aerrow could do to break his bonds, the grounders had made sure of it. Which meant there was nothing Aerrow could do to prevent the grounders from killing both himself and Clarke.

Aerrow bowed his head in sadness as the further realisation hit him that with his capture came the fact that he was not going to be able to save Finn and Sara. They were more than likely already dead by now. Aerrow squeezed his eyes shut, trying to will away the situation, but it was no use. First Arianna, now Sara, and probably very soon Clarke. Why did everyone he truly loved end up dead? And because of him at that.

The sound of a blade being run along a sharpening stone drew Aerrow out of his misery. The sound of a grounder preparing his sword to kill them no doubt. Aerrow lifted his head and took in his surroundings. He and Clarke were in a clearing at the base of a mountain range, deep within the grounders' territory. The sound of the knife being sharpened was coming from his right and in front of him, Anya sat crouched by a small fire, warming her hands against the cold night air.

Clarke was glaring at her and Anya looked up from the fire to return the glare. Aerrow meanwhile heard the unmistakeable sound of a horse galloping through the woods. Multiple horses actually.

Aerrow's guard training in battle tactics took over. "Your left flank is vulnerable" Aerrow called out to Anya loudly and uncaringly just as another group of grounders suddenly appeared – to the left of the clearing – on horseback. They all carried swords and quite heavy battle armour, all of which Aerrow noted carefully. He felt as though there was a bigger picture the grounders lived in that he wasn't aware of. He just needed all the pieces and then be able to put them together.

Anya stood and faced the new arrivals, as did the several grounders accompanying her. "my archers are in the trees with orders to kill anyone hostile" Anya said to the new grounders in the same, confident tone of voice she somehow managed to always keep no matter her situation. "you're not hostile, are you Tristan?"

Aerrow noted several qualities to be found in this new grounder, Tristan. He was obviously the leader of another group of grounders identical to Anya's group. They were possibly both sub-divisions of a much larger group, which Aerrow needed to be aware of if he was somehow able to escape his current predicament and make it back to the camp. Tristan was also confident, and unafraid of Anya, just as she was of him, which implied that they both held equal power.

Tristan got off his horse and practically swaggered over to where Clarke was sat. Clarke uncomfortably moved away from him, and closer to the tree Aerrow was tied too. Tristan observed Clarke and Aerrow, who was still tied pathetically to the tree. "So this is who's beating you?" he said to Anya in an almost amused voice. Aerrow narrowed his eyes and glared fiercely at Tristan. If only he was not tied up. He would very much show Tristan why he was beating the grounders.

"who are you?" Clarke spoke up, shattering the tense stand off

Tristan leant down over Clarke "I'm the man sent to slaughter your people" he said meanly and ominously. Aerrow shook briefly at his bonds, but to no avail. Tristan was amused by this attempt to escape. He had been told of this teenage boy in front of him and what he could do. Right now, Tristan could not see what all the fuss was about. If he was so good then how come he was chained helplessly to a tree?

"the commander sent you?" Anya asked Tristan, slight disbelief creeping into her tone. The word 'commander' stuck in Aerrow's mind. He had been right. There was indeed a much larger picture where the grounders were concerned. They had much larger numbers and were much more organised than any of the 100, Aerrow included, had originally thought.

Tristan looked away from Aerrow to face Anya again "your unit is mine now" he stated "my rangers are hungry. They're at the river, go feed them!" he told the rest of his 'unit' and the group of grounders moved off, leaving only Anya and Tristan. Anya stood with her back turned to Tristan, obviously not appreciative of him assuming control of her unit. "we march on the invaders camp at first light" Tristan told Anya "we'll make quick work of what you failed to do. Starting with this one"

With that, Tristan drew his dagger and walked over to Clarke, who tried to back away but had nowhere to do. Aerrow shook at his bonds violently and desperately once more but still was unable to get free. Nothing could save him or Clarke this time.

Except something did. A faint light appeared on the horizon and then grew in size until Aerrow could make out a large fire at the top of a mountain.

"signal fire!" Anya said loudly as she and Tristan moved away to observe to fire

"Reapers" Tristan said ominously, his voice not fearful but instead fuelled by the knowledge of what to expect in such circumstances.

"let them know we see it" Anya called out and another grounder lit a similar fire located on the edge of the clearing. It blazed to life and flooded to clearing with orange light.

"I'll send my fastest riders to warn the commander" Anya told Tristan

"No" the male grounder replied immediately and firmly "there's no time. Kill the prisoners, get to the river"

Tristan did not say any more, nor did he leave Anya any chance to argue or say anything. He just walked away, got on his horse and rode off.

Anya stared at Clarke and Aerrow. Clarke was trying to remain strong but Aerrow could see the fear in her face. As for him, he was trying to think of a way to convince Anya to free them. She had just had her unit taken from her, and perhaps with a little pleading she could be persuaded to let them go out of something along the lines of sympathy.

Clarke opened her mouth to say something but stopped herself when she saw another grounder walk up behind Anya. She turned to face him.

"are the other two dead?" Anya asked him.

The other grounder had taken a step past Anya but stopped at her question, looked behind him and nodded simply. Aerrow closed his eyes, clenched his fists and sighed in despair. He had been too late. Sara was gone. For a second he wondered what might have happened if he had left Clarke hanging from the noose and instead kept running after Sara. Would things have been different and would he have been able to save Sara? But then Clarke would have been killed instead.

Aerrow forced the thought out of his head. He had made his choice, and now he would have to live with it. Though probably not for much longer for it was at that moment Anya said to the other grounder "good. Kill _Naja _and the girl, then catch up"

Anya walked away while the grounder turned to look back at Clarke and Aerrow. Clarke bowed her head and resigned herself to her fate. Aerrow did the same. He just let himself slump against his bonds. There was no point in fighting anymore. The girl he loved had just been killed. He was tied up to a tree and unable to escape, and the only other person he cared about, as well as himself were about to join Sara and Finn. He just hoped the grounder would kill him first so he would not have to watch Clarke die.

Even that wasn't going to go his way though. The grounder grabbed Clarke's chains and yanked her over to him. She fell to the ground at the sudden movement. She made to get back up but couldn't for it was at that point that she collapsed into unconsciousness.

The grounder walked up to her motionless and completely defenceless body and drew his knife. "NO!" Aerrow yelled at the top of his voice. His muscles strained against the bonds. He felt like he was reliving his past. Clarke was about to get stabbed right in front of him and he was tied up and unable to do anything to stop it from happening. All he could do was watch the terrible scene unfold in front of him. It was just like what happened with Arianna. He had barely recovered from that and he was sure that if he had to see Clarke die as well there would be no way back for him. Even if his body remained alive, he would be dead inside. He would be just a shell, unable to do anything. All his skills that he had worked so hard to gain would just vanish into thin air. And this time, with Clarke gone, _who would be there to stop him from killing himself this time?_

All he could do was close his eyes and wait for the inevitable scream to cut through the air followed by the slicing of a knife and the faint gurgle of blood draining from a lifeless corpse.

It did not come.

Aerrow heard the slashing of the knife but it sounded like it was slashing through metal. Aerrow opened his eyes to saw to his utter amazement the grounder cutting through the chains that held Clarke captive. Once Clarke's bonds were cut, the grounder stood up and set to work on Aerrow's bonds as well. A few seconds later the chains were history and Aerrow felt his weight transfer back onto his own two feet again.

He stared at the grounder in a mix of total shock, amazement and disbelief. He was completely confused as to why the same grounder who had killed Sara and Finn had saved he and Clarke.

"why?" he asked the grounder as he stood over Clarke, making sure she was unhurt

The grounder said nothing. Instead, he faced Aerrow and slowly removed his facemask, revealing a face that Aerrow recognised instantly

"Lincoln" Aerrow breathed in amazement


	33. Chapter 33

**This is a big chapter, a very big chapter. Not in terms of volume but in terms of what happens in it. Put simply, this is the chapter that sets everything up for the ending, the battle with the grounders and even past that, and Aerrow will never be the same again after this chapter.**

**Now I have written this chapter, I wish I had included episode 3 more in the story line and Atom's death, but by now it is too late so I had to improvise a flashback, and you will see why I needed that scene as a reference for this chapter later on in it. More notes at the end of the chapter because stating them here would spoil the chapter.**

**As a side note, this will also be my last upload for a little while due to being away from my computer for a several periods of time in the next few months but I will keep working on ideas for the ending to the story and I will eventually get around to uploading to final chapters. Until then, as always, I hope you enjoy the story**

"we need to move, now" Lincoln said to Aerrow

Aerrow nodded in agreement. There was no telling if the grounders would come back and even if they didn't, Aerrow and Clarke needed to get back to the camp to warn the others. Aerrow helped Lincoln lift the still unconscious Clarke onto the only remaining horse.

"get on" Lincoln said once he and Clarke were seated on the horse.

Aerrow remained on the ground and shook his head "there's not enough room" he said "I'll keep up on foot"

Lincoln nodded, and kicked the stirrups of his saddle, provoking the horse into a steady gallop.

Aerrow ran alongside, trying to keep up as best he could but his two legs were no match for the horses four, and Lincoln had to slow his pace just so Aerrow could keep up.

The path they were following was relatively clear so Aerrow was able to drop his concentration on what was in front of him drop slightly and instead let his mind wander to Sara.

He did not know what had happened to her, and that was what he hated most. He wasn't scared of many things, but not knowing about what had happened to Sara had become one of them. He felt it when he was running back towards her on the bridge, he had felt it when he had left her in the cave – which was what had put her in her current situation in the first place – and he was feeling it now more than ever.

Lincoln had nodded at Anya to show that both Sara and Finn had been killed, but was that true? If Lincoln had saved Aerrow and Clarke, then maybe he could have saved Sara and Finn also. However, Lincoln had not said or done anything that would indicate that that was indeed the case, which worried Aerrow. Maybe they were dead after all. Aerrow could only hope that if Sara had been killed, that it would have been quick and painless. The poor girl had already suffered enough, she did not deserve a slow and painful death.

Further up ahead, Clarke finally regained consciousness. She opened her eyes to see blurred objects whipping past her at a great speed. She was also moving up and down on something. She took a little while to realise that she was on a horse, and that the grounder was riding it as well. He was sat just behind her. She panicked at first, both at the fear of riding the horse and the fear of being around the grounder. However, her fear was soon replaced by confusion as she realised that the grounder had not killed her. Maybe he had rescued her. However, her hands were still tied together which told Clarke that maybe he was going to kill her after all and he was just taking her to a different place to do it.

Clarke looked around to try and maybe see if Aerrow was there as well but he was nowhere to be seen. She sighed. He had probably already been killed. First Finn, now Aerrow. Everyone she cared about was getting killed.

She faced ahead again and saw a dim orange glow in the distance. As she got closer she saw it was a fire burning in another clearing.

As they came into the clearing the grounder stopped the horses gallop and brought them to a halt. He roughly pulled her down off the horse, held her still and cut her bonds with his knife, the entire time not saying a word. Clarke was still extremely confused but a fresh hope filled her that maybe the grounder was not going to kill her after all.

Clarke stared up at the grounder, hoping to get some kind of answer as to why he had saved her, but instead the grounder grabbed her and turned her body around so she was facing the fire, and there she saw him.

Relief and happiness flooded through Clarke as she saw Finn standing in the clearing behind the fire. Immediately, she sprinted over to him and hugged him as tightly as she possibly could. It felt so good to hug him, to feel his breathing, to know he was alive. For that moment she forgot about Aerrow and Sara, she only cared about Finn. She realised this and felt as if maybe her heart had changed, that maybe she now cared about Finn more than Aerrow, or that she had always cared about Finn, but had never realised it because she had been with Aerrow. She did not hate this realisation. Instead, she accepted it. Aerrow had found someone else. Maybe she should as well.

Clarke pulled away just as the sound of approaching footsteps was to be heard. The sound of someone else approaching the clearing. Clarke feared another grounder coming but eventually the figure came into view, illuminated by the fire light, and Clarke recognised him as the other person she dreaded had been killed that night: Aerrow Eroxin.

He must have been following her and the grounder.

Aerrow came into the clearing and saw Clarke with Finn. _Finn. _Aerrow's spirits lifted immediately. If Finn was alive then surely Sara was too…

"I don't understand how…" Clarke said breathlessly to Finn, her whirlpool of emotions that she was currently feeling representing themselves in her voice.

Finn said nothing. Instead, he as well as Aerrow looked over Clarke's shoulder and behind Aerrow at the grounder that had brought them all here. Slowly, the man turned to face them and removed his facemask.

"Lincoln" Aerrow said simply, but not disguising the gratitude in his voice. Lincoln stared evenly at the three, and gave them a small, but resounding nod.

For the first time, Aerrow looked around the clearing, scouring it for one thing, one person. He had seen the embrace that Finn and Clarke had shared, and wanted, almost expected to get one himself from Sara. But he had got nothing. In fact, the blonde girl was nowhere to be seen. Aerrow felt the dread and fear start to rise up in him again.

"Finn's here" he said to Lincoln, neither asking nor stating "Where's Sara? You saved her too, right?"

Lincoln said nothing, his expression remained even. Seeing he was not going to get anything from the grounder, Aerrow turned towards Finn. Maybe he knew something. Aerrow's heart lodged in his mouth when he saw the expression on Finn's face. It was not a happy one.

"She's over here" he said slowly, in a tone that Aerrow could not pick up but was definitely not along the lines of happiness or reassurance. It was more a mix of nervousness, sadness and sympathy. "you need to see this"

Aerrow immediately raced around to the other side of the fire and saw her. He realised why Finn had originally been crouched on the other side of the fire. There, lying shaking and whimpering on the ground, was Sara.

Aerrow raced over to her, dropped to his knees and skidded to a halt as her side, and held her head in his hands. She looked up at him and despite the pain that she was obviously in, her beautiful blue eyes brightened up as soon as she saw him.

"what happened?" Aerrow asked Finn quickly and urgently

"we were about to be killed" Finn replied "then she somehow broke her bonds and killed the guy who was about to kill us, she stabbed him in the heart with his own knife. I've only seen one other person do what she did, and that's you"

Despite the condition Sara was in, Aerrow smiled at her. She continued to make him proud of how far she had come with her training, and Finn's comment was the ultimate recognition. But it still didn't explain how she ended up in the condition she was in right now.

"what happened after that?" Aerrow pressed on. He needed to know as soon as possible if he had any chance of saving Sara

"she was untying my bonds when a second grounder came from nowhere and stabbed her in her side" Aerrow checked and Sara did indeed have a stab wound on the left side of her abdomen "that's when Lincoln showed up. He killed one of his own people to save our lives and then he brought us here"

That was all Finn had to say and that was all the information Aerrow needed. Sara's deathly condition was as a result of her stab wound. There was nothing else that could have caused her to be reacting this way, shaking and convulsing on the ground, unable to do anything else and in massive amounts of pain. Aerrow knew from experience that the grounders liked to spice up their knives with various poisons. He looked at her wound more closely and saw a small amount of clear liquid spattered around it amongst the blood. He just needed to know what it was

"Lincoln, do you know what poison was on the knife she was stabbed with?" Aerrow asked, desperation eating into his voice. Lincoln maintained his emotionless expression and said nothing. He just shook his head. Aerrow cursed and punched the ground. If he didn't know what was in her system, there was no way he could save Sara.

Suddenly, Aerrow noticed something. He recognised the symptoms. _Shaking, pale, clammy skin, body clamping down… _They were all signs of a very specific type of snake venom. Aerrow had read about its effects on the Ark, and knew them very well.

Sara had been poisoned by Cobra venom.

It was a nasty brew. A mix of nerve affecting neurotoxins venom and blood, organ and tissue destroying heamotoxins. The combination of both of these made Cobra venom one of the most effective – and painful – snake venoms in the world. It destroyed the victim's body from the inside out.

Aerrow needed to act fast if he wanted to save Sara's life. She was fading fast, her convulsions becoming more violent. Now he knew what she was poisoned with, Aerrow just needed to know the antidote. The herbs the grounder who trained him had given him would have been really helpful, but he had none left after he had unnecessarily wasted all of them on non-life threatening injuries. Aerrow again cursed himself at his irresponsibility.

"Cobra venom" he told the others "she's being affected by cobra venom"

"Aerrow how can you be sure?" Clarke asked. She had not said anything up until that point. In truth, she did not really know what to say or how to feel. Of course, she was worried about Sara and wanted to save her as well, but she did not know how and she was perhaps not as willing to try as Aerrow was. After all, Aerrow was in love with her and had broken up with Clarke so he could be with her, something Clarke still harboured some resentment for.

"Just trust me okay!" Aerrow said quickly and firmly "Lincoln, I need an antidote"

Lincoln shook his head again "there is no antidote" he said simply "that's why we use it"

"ARGH!" Aerrow screamed as he slammed his fist down against the hard ground. He was losing it. He could not let Sara die. He just couldn't. But there was no way to save her either. Aerrow squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists. There had to be another way. There had to be.

"Aerrow" a soft, broken voice called out. Aerrow opened his eyes and looked down at Sara again, who the voice belonged to. She was looking up at him with a look of utmost love in her eyes. It was the most intense love Aerrow had ever seen or experienced. Despite the venom that was ripping her internal organs to shreds, Sara managed to lift her hand up and stoke Aerrow's cheek.

Aerrow said nothing. He just leaned his head in to Sara's hand, savouring her soft touch.

"kill me. please" Sara whimpered, unable to disguise the pain she was in.

Aerrow refused to believe what she had just said "no" he said firmly, shaking his head "I can save you"

"Aerrow" Sara begged, her voice cutting through him like a thousand bullets, hurting more than Dylan Joyce or the grounders ever had "please"

She loved him, and she did not want to die, but she did not want to go through the pain she was in any longer, and she did not want to see the pain she was causing Aerrow anymore either. She placed her knife in his hand, curled his fingers around the handle for him and raised his hand above her, so the blade of the knife was pointing at her heart.

"I love you" she whispered, a single tear forming in her left eye and rolling down the side of her face.

Holding the knife above Sara, his heart, his life, his very soul, Aerrow was transported back to time a few days after he had arrived on the ground, a time when he was much less emotional.

_He had gone out hunting with Bellamy and a few others. They had been forced to flee from acid fog and ended up spending the night in a series of caves to evade to deadly corrosive effects of the acid._

_The next morning, assuming everyone had made it, Aerrow ventured out and started heading back in the direction of the camp. He had walked only about 100 metres when he heard a series of groans coming from just over a small rise in the ground._

_Aerrow moved over the rise and saw in a small clearing Bellamy crouched over one of his minions, a boy named Atom. Atom had obviously not made it to the caves and had been forced to endure the fog. His body was a bloody mess. His skin had been literally eaten away by the fog. Even the corneas of his eyes had been burnt off._

_Atom was asking, no, begging Bellamy to kill him, to put him out of his pain and suffering. Aerrow saw the look on Bellamy's face and saw that he was not going to be able to bring himself to do it, so Aerrow walked up behind Bellamy, drew his own knife and wordlessly and emotionlessly plunged the blade into Atom's heart, killing the boy instantly._

_Bellamy looked up at Aerrow with shock in his eyes. How had he just managed to do that and seemingly not be affected at all?_

_Aerrow recognised what Bellamy was thinking, so answered his question for him. "killing is easy" Aerrow said darkly, wiping the blade of his knife on his jacket "you just have to learn to deal with it"_

_Atom was the first person Aerrow had deliberately killed._

The memories flashed through Aerrow's mind as he held the knife over Sara.

It was exactly the same situation: a person was in a lot of pain, unable to be cured, and just wanted the pain to end. Aerrow had not felt a thing when he killed Atom. He had been completely devoid of sympathy or remorse. He had simply done what needed to be done.

This was the complete opposite. Every fibre of his physical being was telling Aerrow to do it, to end Sara's suffering, but every fibre of his emotional being was forcing Aerrow not to. He cared about her too much. He could not bring himself to kill the person he loved more than any other.

"I can't Sara" Aerrow sniffed, tears rolling down his cheeks "I just can't"

The knife wavered in his hands and he brought it down. He was telling the truth. He did not want to see Sara suffer any longer, but he could not bring himself to kill her. Someone else would have to.

Aerrow turned to give the knife to any one of the other three, he didn't care who, just as long as it wasn't him. As he did so though, the knife collided with Aerrow's Cobra necklace, and as it did so Aerrow noticed something he had never noticed before

_The carved Cobra was hollow_

For some reason, Aerrow just knew that him having the Cobra necklace and Sara being poisoned by Cobra venom was not a coincidence. He immediately removed the necklace and scoured the carving for an opening.

He found a small slit in the centre of the carving, going all the way around. He grasped either side of it and pulled, and the carving split into two parts, revealing an inner compartment containing… _some more herbs_

Aerrow could not believe it. He acted on pure instinct of his heart. He grabbed the herbs as fast as he could and faced Sara again.

She was slipping away. She was unconscious and her convulsions had stopped which meant that she was only a minute or so away from death.

Aerrow had to act quickly. He put the herbs in Sara's mouth and pinched her nose, forcing her body to swallow and ingest the herbs. Aerrow had no idea how long they would take to have an effect. He just prayed they worked quickly. They were Sara's last hope.

Once she had swallowed the herbs, Aerrow leant back slightly, took one of her hands in his and held it tightly, and watched, waited and prayed the herbs would work.

"Sara, hold on, ok" he whispered to her, unsure whether or not she could she could hear him "Stay with me, please"

The seconds passed, and Sara showed no signs of improvement. Instead, Aerrow saw, heard and felt her breathing slow.

"Please no" he begged, refusing to give up

His pleas went unanswered though. Sara let out one last sigh. Her chest evened out and Aerrow felt her heart stop beating. He couldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it, but it was true. Sara had died.

Aerrow squeezed his eyes shut as tight as he could. He put his forehead against hers and gently kissed her one, final time. Then he looked up and screamed a scream of pure rage as hard and as loud as he could into the night sky.

**I did not want to have to write this chapter. I adored the Sara character in 'Arrow' and I got sick her constantly being the one that loses out, be it in the actual show or show-inspired fanfics and that was why I put a modified version of her character in this story. However, taking into account the events that had taken place so far in this story, the opinions of the people who have given feedback and also the events of the season finale I realised that this was something I needed to do.**

**When I first started drafting this chapter I didn't know whether or not to have Aerrow kill Sara himself or try to succeed in saving her with the herbs. In the end, I couldn't decide so I decided to do both, with the sadder outcome.**

**I did that because, when I started writing this story, I made Aerrow a lot like Oliver from 'Arrow', and the more I wrote the more I made him similar, and I was tired of that happening. I wanted this to be my story and have Aerrow take on his own character, which will happen in the following chapters. I also needed to position Aerrow to be sad and angry for the final fight between Aerrow and the grounders where I needed him to be as dark and remorseless and therefore badass as possible.**

**Be warned though, not everything is always as it seems, and more big changes will take place before this story is over. However, Aerrow will never, ever be the same again, either for the rest of this story in a season two sequel if I decide to do one.**


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